Nowhere Fast
by Renthead621
Summary: Sequel to Tonight is What it Means to Be Young. I suggest you read that one first. Ava's career is soaring and Roger get a blast from the past. RogerOC, MoJo, CollinsOC and more. Please read and review. Now COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

It had been 2 years since Mimi died and Roger was trying to start a new band. He was looking through some of his old boxes looking for songs when he came across a pile of pictures and magazine articles. When he picked them up and started going through them he couldn't believe what he had come across. They were picture of him and his old girlfriend Avalon (Ava) Donnelly. She was the lead singer of the band he had when he was a junior and senior in high school. She was the love of his life back then. He wanted to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her. But Ava had developed a problem with alcohol during his senior year and her junior year of high school. He helped her get help and she seemed fine. When he went away to college, his cousin kissed her and she started drinking again after Roger found out about it. Roger left the night he found out she was drinking again and never returned to Hicksville again. He had read that she got sober again and continued making music. She actually got a record deal. He was proud of who she became, but the hurt he suffered was too much for him to return to her. As he flipped through the pictures, he remembered how happy he was in them. He hadn't been happy like that in a very long time. When Maureen entered the loft, he didn't hear her come in.

"Roger, are you here? Roger." she called out looking around.

"I'm in here Maureen." he yelled putting his pictures away.

"You will never guess who's playing at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night." she said sitting on his bed.

"Who?" he asked looking up at her trying to cover up his pictures.

"Avalon." she smiled reaching over to the box taking one of the pictures out.

"That's nice." he said looking up at her snatching the picture away from her.

"Come on Roger. Jimmy gave me a bunch of tickets." she teased looking down at him.

"Why would Jimmy give you a bunch of tickets?" he asked looking down at the picture again before putting it back in it's box.

"Because he wants us to go. He thought it would be fun. We could all hang out afterwards." she smiled looking down at him.

"Is she still not drinking?" he asked quietly looking up at her.

"Roger, she's been sober since you left. Jimmy said she's doing really good." she smiled looking down at her.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea. I haven't seen her in 10 years. A lot's changed since then." he said pushing the box back into the closet before getting up and sitting on his bed.

"Yeah Roger, a lot's changed. She's not drinking anymore. She's been sober for 10 years. There's nothing to stop you two from getting back together." she said looking up at him.

"That's what this is about. I knew it was something like that." he said getting up off of the bed.

"Roger, I remember how you two were in high school. You were so much in love. And then you ran away and..." she started when he turned towards her.

"What was I supposed to do Maureen? Watch the woman I love drink herself to death? She almost died once. There was no way I could do that again." he yelled looking down at her.

"I know Roger. I was there, remember?" she yelled getting up to follow him. "You left when she started drinking after you flipped out over Will kissing her." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah, and she'd been drinking for 2 weeks before I left." he yelled looking over at her.

"Because you wouldn't talk to her." she yelled as he walked away from her.

"I had to find out from my cousin that he kissed my girlfriend. I needed time to think and then when I went back to talk to her, she was drunk and was yelling at me to go. So I left. I couldn't watch her do that to herself again. She's the love of my life Maureen." he yelled as Mark entered the loft.

"What the hell is going on in here? I can hear you guys yelling all the way down the block." he asked looking over at them.

"We're going to a concert tomorrow night." Maureen said looking up at Roger before storming out of the bedroom.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Mark asked looking up at Roger.

"My ex girlfriend and her band are playing at the Garden tomorrow night and Maureen got tickets." he said walkiing out of his room.

"Avalon? That's cool. Is that what you two were fighting over?" he asked following him to the kitchen.

"Yeah." he said opening the refrigerator reaching for a beer, but shutting the door instead.

"Why were you guys fighting over it? A concert sounds like fun." he said looking up at him.

"Because I don't know if I want to see her. I don't know if I can." he yelled before going to the couch and plopping down.

"What do you mean you don't know if you can? Do you still have feelings for her?" he asked looking over at him.

"I'm always gonna have feelings for her Mark. She was the love of my life. But when I left 10 years ago, I decided it was better if I didn't go back. I couldn't watch her drink herself to death. She almost died of alcohol poisoning the beginning of my senior year of high school. I found her passed out on her bed after school one day and when she didn't wake up, I called an ambulance. That's when she stopped drinking the first time. I would have done anything for her, and I did. I loved her so much Mark, you know? I wanted to marry her. We were gonna go to the same college when she graduated and we were gonna get an apartment together. But when my cousin told me that he kissed her, I kind of flipped out. I mean, I know it wasn't her fault. She pushed him away and told him that she loved me, but I was 19 and really stupid. I didn't trust her because she didn't tell me about it herself. I screwed up and I drove her to start drinking again. But in my stupid 19 year old mind, I couldn't trust her anymore. So I left and never looked back. I saw her in magazines and stuff, but that was it." he said quietly not looking at him.

"Roger, do you wanna see her again?" he asked looking over at him.

"Yeah, I wanna see her again, but after the way I screwed up my own life... I don't know. I just feel like I'd be a hypocrite, you know?" he asked looking over at him.

"You can't think about that now? All you can do is go to the concert and make sure she's OK." he said looking up as Roger got up off of the couch.

"OK, I'll go. Thanks Mark." he said looking down at him.

"No problem Roger. So tell me about this girl. All I know is what Maureen tells me." he said smiling up at him.

"Her name is Ava. Well, she goes by Avalon now. It's a celtic name. It used to be her grandmothers name and she hated it. But I always liked it." he smiled looking down at him.

"How did you guys meet?" he asked as Roger said down again.

"Me, my cousin Will, and my best friends Jimmy and June had this band, Transparent and we put up flyers around school to find a girl lead singer and she showed up at my house one day to audition. Mark, she was incredible. Her voice kicked ass. We won the talent show my junior year because of her. We wrote a song together." he smiled looking over at him.

"A kick ass rock chick and a song writer? She's perfect for you." Mark said smiling at him.

"Yeah, she was. I loved her so much Mark. I didn't want to go away to college without her. I wanted to wait for her, but she wouldn't let me. She didn't want me to put my life on hold any more than I already had. I spent my whole senior year of high school taking care of her, you know? I loved her. I knew I wanted to marry her when I was 16 years old, but then I came home for the summer and found out about what had happened between her and Will and... I didn't handle it very well. She said she didn't tell me because she didn't want to hurt me. Will was my cousin and one of my best friends. I loved her and I wound up hurting her." he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"So you go to the concert tomorrow night and talk to her. Tell her how sorry you are for hurting her all those years ago and be friends with her." he said looking over at him.

"I don't know if I can be friends with her. I love her Mark. I always will." he said running his fingers through his hair.

"So than tell her you still love her. Don't be afraid of the mistakes you made. Just go on from here." he said as Roger looked over at him.

"For someone who can't manage his own love life, you're getting pretty good at managing mine." Roger laughed looking over at him.

"Yeah well, those who can do, those who can't teach." he laughed getting to go to the kitchen.

"Yeah, apparently." Roger laughed sitting back on the couch. "Now all I gotta do is figure out what I'm gonna wear." he said putting his head back.

"A shirt and pants would do." he laughed stuffing a cookie in his mouth.

"You think you're on a roll today, don't you?" Roger smiled looking back at him.

"You mean I'm not?" he laughed looking over at him.

"I'm gonna call Collins. He's bound to be more helpful. Being our token gay guy and all." Roger laughed getting up to call Collins.

"Hey, I tried." Mark laughed looking over at him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Roger, come on. You've been in there for hours." Maureen yelled from the living room as Roger came out of the bathroom.

"I have not been in here for hours. Are you ready? Let's go." he said looking over at everyone, who were staring at him. "What?" he asked looking at them.

"Are those new pants?" Joanne asked looking over at him.

"And boots." Collins asked smiling down at him.

"No, I've had these boots a while. I just haven't had anywhere to wear them before." he said putting his leather jacket on as everyone looked up at him. "Oh shut up." he smiled looking down as he left the loft.

"This is gonna be such a fun night." Maureen smiled looking over at Joanne before following him.

"Yeah, as much fun as a root canal. Who thought taking Roger to see his old girlfriend perform would be a good idea?" Collins asked looking down at Joanne.

"You know Maureen. He hated seeing Roger mope around here. This is the only way she knows how to help him." she said looking up at him as they all left the loft.

"I just hope she ain't setting him up for a fall." he said looking down at her before starting down the stairs.

"Yeah, me too." she said quietly looking up at Mark as they followed him. When they arrived at Madison Square Garden, they couldn't believe how many people were there.

"Can you believe all these people are here to see Ava?" Roger asked looking over at Maureen who was smiling up at him.

"Yeah I can. She always could command an audience." she smiled as Roger caught a glimpse of a picture of Ava on the billboard outside. She looked beautiful. Her blue eyes still had him. "Roger, we better get in. The concert's gonna start soon." she said looking up at him.

"OK." he smiled still looking at the picture before turning around to go in the Garden.

"This is incredible. I can't believe all these people are here to see your old girlfriend." Mark said looking up at Roger.

"I told you she was good." he smiled as the lights went down and the music started. Ava rushed to the center of the stage and stood in front of the microphone. She was wearing an off the shoulder red top and tight black leather pants. As the drums played the other instruments started. Her body pulsated to the music. _"Lying in your bed on a Saturday night, you're sweatin' buckets and it's not even hot, but your brain has got the message and it's sending it out, to every nerve and every muscle you've got, you've got so many dreams that you don't know where to put 'em, so you'd better turn a few of 'em loose, your body's got a feeling that it's starting to rust, you'd better rev it up and put it to use, and I don't know how I ever thought that I could make it all alone, when you only make it better, and it better be tonight, and we'll fly away on those angel wings of chrome in your daddy's car, waiting there for you tonight, I'll be there for you tonight, even if you don't have anywhere to go, you go down on the pedal and you're, ready to roll, and even if you don't have anywhere to go,you go down on the pedal and you're ready to roll, and your speed is all you'll ever need, all you'll ever need to know, darlin', darlin', you and me we're goin' nowhere slowly, and we've gotta get away from the past, there's nothin' wrong with goin' nowhere, baby, but we should be goin' nowhere fast, everybody's goin' nowhere slowly, they're only fighting for the chance to be last, there's nothin' wrong with goin' nowhere, baby, but we should be goin' nowhere fast, it's so much better goin' nowhere fast, stalkin' in the shadows by the light of the moon, it's like a prison and the night is a cell, goin' anywhere has gotta be heaven tonight, 'cause stayin' here has gotta be hell, dyin' in the city like a fire on the water, let's go runnin' on the back of the wind, there's gotta' be some action on the face of the earth, and I've gotta see your face once again, and I don't know where I ever got the bright idea that I was cool, so alone and independent, but I'm depending on you now, and you'll always be the only thing that I just can't be without, and I'm out for you tonight, I'm comin' out for you tonight, even if you don't have anywhere to go, you go down on the pedal and you're ready to roll (ready to roll), even if you don't have anywhere to go, you go down on the pedal and you're ready to roll, and your speed is all you'll ever need, all you'll ever need to know darlin', darlin', you and me we're goin' nowhere slowly, and we've gotta get away from the past, there's nothin' wrong with goin' nowhere, baby, but we should be goin' nowhere fast, everybody's goin' nowhere slowly, they're only fighting for the chance to be last, there's nothin' wrong with goin', nowhere, baby, but we should be goin' nowhere fast, godspeed, godspeed, godspeed, speed us away, ...(We're goin' nowhere fast." _she sung as the crowd went wild. "Thank you. I'm Avalon. How you doin' New York?" she asked as the crowd screamed.

"She's amazing Roger." Collins yelled looking over at Roger.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" he smiled looking up at her.

"Now, let's get on with the music." she smiled looking back at Jimmy and June as they started the next song. Roger started up at her. The way she danced around the stage was mesmerizing. He always loved seeing her perform. "Now I'm gonna do a song I wrote a long time ago with someone very special to me. I hope you like it." she smiled as the music started. Roger and Maureen looked at each other. Maureen was smiling and Roger just stared up at her. _"I've got a dream 'bout an angel on the beach and the perfect waves are starting to come, his hair is flying out in ribbons of gold, and his touch has got the power to stun, I've got a dream 'bout an angel in the forest, enchanted by the edge of a lake, his body's flowing in the jewels alive, and the earth below is starting to shake, but I don't see any angels in the city, I don't hear any holy choirs sing, and if I can't get an angel, I can still get a boy, and a boy'd be the next best thing, the next best thing to an angel, a boy'd be the next best thing, I've got a dream 'bout a boy in a castle, and he's dancing like a cat on the stairs, he's got the fire of a prince in his eyes and the thunder of a drum in his ears, I've got a dream 'bout a boy on a star, lookin' down upon the rim of the world, he's there all alone and dreamin' of someone like me, I'm not an angel but at least I'm a girl, I've got a dream when the darkness is over, we'll be lyin' in the rays of the sun, but it's only a dream and tonight is for real, you'll never know what it means, but you'll know how it feels, it's give me be over (over), before you know it's begun, (before you know it's begun), it's all we really got tonight, stop your cryin' hold on (tonight), before you know it it's gone (tonight), tonight is what it means to be young, tonight is what it means to be young, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), say a prayer in the darkness for the magic to come, no matter what it seams, tonight is what it means to be young, before you know it it's gone ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(before you know it it's gone...), before you know it it's gone, I've got a dream when the darkness is over, we'll be lyin' in the rays of the sun, but it's only a dream and tonight is for real, you'll never know what it means, but you'll know how it feels, it's give me be over (over), before you know it's begun (before you know it's begun), it's all we really got tonight, stop your cryin' hold on (tonight), before you know it's gone (tonight), tonight is what it means to be young, tonight is what it means to be young..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), say a prayer in the darkness for the magic to come cause no matter what it seams, tonight is what it means to be young ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(before you know it it's gone...), tonight is what it means to be young..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), the things they say, and the things they do, nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true.., the things they say, and the things they do, nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true..., the things they say, and the things they do nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone ." _she smiled looking down at the audience. She caught a glimpse of Roger smiling up at her from the crowd. She was stunned. She looked back at Jimmy who simply smiled at her. As she continued the concert, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. When she finished, she promptly left the stage.

"Ava, I'm sorry. I just figured since we were here, he should get a chance to see you." Jimmy said following her to the dressing room.

"I don't like being blind sided like that Jimmy. Did you know about this?" she asked looking over at June.

"Yeah I did. You need to face him." he said looking down at her.

"Why do I need to face him? He's the one who left me." she yelled looking up at them.

"Bur you've been running away from him since he left." Jimmy told her as she sat on the couch.

"How have I been running away from him? He left me and I've been pursuing my career." she asked looking up at him.

"Ava, you've been thinking about him a lot lately." June said sitting next to her.

"How do you know what I've been thinking about?" she asked looking over at him.

"The fact that you've been singing Tonight is What it Means to Be Young kind of tipped us off." June said looking over at her.

"It's a good song." she told him defensively.

"Ava." Jimmy exclaimed looking over at her.

"Fine. I've been thinking about Roger a lot lately. So now what? Him and I get back together and pretend the last 10 years never happened?" she asked getting up off of the couch.

"No, of course not. But we're here, so we might as well meet him for a drink and catch up." Jimmy said looking over at her.

"OK fine. I'll see him." she said looking up at him smiling.

"OK, we'll get cleaned up and meet them around the corner." June smiled getting off of the couch.

"You two are impossible." she smiled looking over at them.

"We love you too Ava." Jimmy smiled bringing her into an embrace.

"He looked good, right? I mean, really good." she asked looking over at him.

"Yeah, Maureen said he's been taking care of himself. She said he's trying to get another band started." he smiled looking down at her.

"He always was good." she smiled as Jimmy tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You two were always good together." June smiled looking over at them.

"That was a long time ago June." she said looking over at him.

"Not so long ago." he said walking over to her.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on. We have to get cleaned up. I have a ghost to face." she said turning away from them going over to her mirror to clean up her make up.

A/N: The first song in this chapter is Nowhere Fast. It's by Fire Inc. from the movie Streets of Fire. I hope you like it.


	3. Chapter 3

"She looked good, right? I mean, she looked sober." Roger asked looking down at Maureen.

"Well Jimmy said she's been sober for a while now." she said looking up at him.

"Yeah, I read it. Where are we meeting them?" he asked as they left the Garden.

"Around the corner. They just need to get cleaned up." she said smiling up at him.

"I gotta stop by the bodega. I'll meet you there." he said walking down the block.

"I'll get him." Collins said looking down at her.

"No, I think I need to do this. I'll meet you guys at the bar." Maureen said looking up at him before chasing after Roger. "Roger, wait." she called out running after him.

"I just need to get cigarettes Maureen. Go to the bar, I'll meet you guys there." he said not turning around.

"You're gonna go home, aren't you? I can't believe you're gonna run away on her again." she yelled looking up as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

"What am I gonna say to her Maureen? Sorry for running out on you when you needed me the most, but I couldn't handle it? I was 19 years old and I couldn't handle taking care of the woman I love when she needed me the most? I wanted to until I saw her. How am I gonna face her." he asked looking down at her.

"No Roger. You tell you still love her and see if you can get back what you had with her." she asked looking up at him.

"How do you...?" he asked before she cut him off.

"Are you kidding? I've known you my whole life. I can tell by the way you were looking at her up there. It was the way you always looked at her." she said smiling up at him.

"What am I gonna say to her Maureen? I screwed up in so many ways. How do I make that up to her?" he asked looking down at her.

"She still loves you Roger. I don't think it's gonna be that hard to make it up to her." she smiled taking his arm.

"How do you know?" he asked looking down at her confused.

"Roger, she sung the song you guys wrote together and called you someone special to her. It's obvious. And it wasn't only tonight. Jimmy said she's been doing that song a lot lately." she said as he looked down.

"How am I gonna explain what I did to my own life? I walked out on her for drinking and I go on to shoot heroin and contract HIV. Real genius, right?" he said looking down at the ground.

"Roger, come on. Let's go to the bar. We have old friends to catch up with." she smiled taking his arm.

"I missed her Maureen." he said looking down at him.

"I know Roger. She missed you too. You guys always belonged together." she smiled as they walked to the bar.

"Maureen, I don't know if we're gonna get back together again." he said looking down at her.

"There's always a chance. Trust me. Sometimes, things do work out." she smiled as she linked arms with him walking up to the bar. "Are you ready?" she asked looking down at him.

"Yeah, I think so. I don't know why I feel like a damn teenager." he said looking into the window of the bar. He noticed Ava, Jimmy and June sitting at a table in the back with Mark, Collins and Joanne.

"Come on." she smiled opening the door and dragging him in.

"Roger man. How you been? You look really good." Jimmy called out rushing to the front of the bar.

"I'm good Jimmy. How've you been?" he asked smiling over at Ava who was sitting next to June looking up at him.

"Hi Roger." she said getting up from her chair and walking over to him.

"Hi Ava. Or should I call you Avalon? I'm glad you decided to use that name as your stage name. It fits you." she smiled looking down at her shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, you always said it was a cool name. You look really good Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"So do you. Really." he smiled looking down at her.

"Hey Davis. You look like shit. Don't you believe in hair cuts?" June yelled rushing over to him breaking the tension between them.

"You're just jealous I still have all my hair. Getting a little thin up there, are you June?" he teased looking up at his head before they hugged.

"It's good to see you Roger." June laughed looking over at him.

"So do you man. It's great to see you again." he smiled looking back at him.

"Why don't we sit down? We were just talking to your friends and they've been telling us quite a few stories." Jimmy laughed looking over at Ava.

"Um, we'll be right back." Ava said taking Roger's arm and leading him outside.

"Ava, you look really good. And you were great up there." he smiled looking down at her.

"Roger, why didn't you come back?" she asked taking him off guard.

"What?" he asked looking down at her.

"Why didn't you come back? After you left that summer, you never came back." she asked putting her hands on her hips looking up at him.

"I couldn't watch you try to kill yourself again." he said looking down at her.

"I started drinking again because I couldn't take you not being able to trust me for not telling you about Will." she said turning her back on him.

"Ava, you were sober for over a year and a half and then you started drinking again. Why would you do that after you almost died?" he said looking over at her.

"I had lost you Roger. I didn't see the point in anything anymore. You wouldn't talk to me and you couldn't trust me." she said turning to him. She had tears in her eyes.

"You didn't lose me Ava. You could never lose me. I loved you and wanted to marry you. I just needed to wrap my mind around what happened between you and Will. I just needed time to think." he said looking over at her.

"You wouldn't talk to me for 2 weeks Roger." she told him as tears rolled down her face.

"I was 19 Ava. I was stupid. I loved you and I hurt you. I'm so sorry. I wish I could make it up to you." he said reaching out for her.

"How?" she asked looking up at him.

"I don't know, but I wanna try." he said looking down at her.

"Well, we have one more show tomorrow night and we have a week until we go out west. Maybe we can spend some time together before I have to go." she suggested looking down at her.

"I'd like that Ava." he smiled wrapping his arms around her. "Do you wanna go back inside?" he asked looking down at her.

"Not yet." she answered holding on to him tight.

"I, um... I still love you Ava." he said looking down at her.

"I still love you too Roger. I always have." she said looking up at him. He gazed into her bright blue eyes. The same blue eyes that had him since he was 16 years old. He leaned down to kiss her. It was better than it had been 10 years earlier. She pulled him closer and kissed him more furiously.

"I love you Ava." he whispered between breaths.

"I love you too Roger." she whispered holding him tight.

"So now what?" he asked holding her in his arms.

"How about we go back to my hotel room? We can be alone and talk there." she suggested looking up at him.

"Ava, I have to tell you something." he said loosening his hold on her.

"Roger, I know you're HIV positive. Jimmy told me. It's OK. I love you anyway." she said looking up into his green eyes.

"I'm sorry Ava. I screwed up my own life too." he said looking down at her.

"I wouldn't say screwed up. You just used bad judgment. I can relate." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thank you for understanding Ava." he said as she leaned up to kiss him.

"You always said no one understood you like I do." she smiled caressing his face.

"That's true." he smiled holding her closer again. As they smiled at one another Jimmy, June and Maureen stared out the window smiling at them. It looked like Ava and Roger were back together.


	4. Chapter 4

"So what's the deal with Ava and Roger?" Collins asked sitting across the table from Jimmy and June.

"Me, Roger, June and Roger's cousin Will had a band in high school and junior year we figured we would probably get more gigs if we had a chick singer. Actually, Roger was going through a Pat Benatar faze and wanted a chick to sing Pat Benatar songs with us, so we put up some fliers around school looking for a girl to audition for our band. That's when Ava walked into Roger's garage. He fell for her the second he saw her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. And then when she wanted to sing Hit me with your Best shot, that was it. She had him. She was amazing. You know Roger when it comes to women, the only wayt to get his attention is if they're smokin hot or have a kick ass rock voice and Ava had both, so she had him from their first meeting. They were great in high school. They lived and breathed for each other. They were never alone, you know? And then Ava went on tour with her dad and things started going down hill for them." Jimmy said looking over at June.

"She started drinking that summer and became an alcoholic. Roger's dad was an alcoholic, so Roger didn't drink. When Ava almost died, he was so scared. She never saw him freak out, but he did. I mean he really freaked out. When he got home from the hospital the day they took her, he came over my house and cried. I've known Roger my whole life and I'd never seen him like that. Ever. But then he went away to college and things got all fucked up on them." June added looking down at the table.

"What do you think's gonna happen now that they're back together?" Mark asked looking over at Maureen.

"Whatever happens next is anybody's guess, but I have a feeling Transparent is back together." she smiled looking over at Jimmy and June.

"God I hope so. I miss hearing Ava sing with Roger." Jimmy smiled looking over at them.

"How long are you guys in town?" Collins asked looking over at them.

"A week, so I wouldn't plan on seeing much of Roger and Ava." June laughed as Maureen reached over and slapped him.

"That is so crude June." she laughed looking up at him.

"Am I lying?" he asked looking over at her.

"No, but it's crude." she laughed looking over at everyone.

* * *

"So, um what do you wanna do now?" Roger asked looking down at her as she opened the door to her hotel room.

"I know what I wanna do now." she said grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to her.

"Ava we have to talk." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, I know we have to be careful." she said looking up at him.

"Not just about that. I mean, yeah we have to be careful. But there are things you don't know about the last 10 years." he said leading her over to the couch.

"Roger, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're back together now. We've both made mistakes Roger, but I've forgiven myself for mine. You need to do the same." she said taking his hand in hers.

"But Ava, I made really big mistakes." he said looking over at her.

"Baby, everything is gonna be OK. We'll get through this like we got through everything in the old days, OK?" she said moving closer to him.

"Yeah except now we get to go through it in the public eye because you're the famous Avalon." he laughed looking over at her.

"Not with you I'm not. With you, I'm just Ava Donnelly." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"My rock chick." he smiled wrapping his arms around her.

"Roger, rejoin the band." she said looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked leaning back to look into her eyes.

"I mean, rejoin the band. I know it's not Transparent, but I want to sing with you again." she smiled looking up at him.

"Are you serious?" he asked smiling down at her.

"Why not? We always did great together." she smiled looking up at him.

"I would love to." he smiled looking down at her.

"Really?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah really. I miss being in a band with you." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"You do realize, this isn't your garage? You're gonna be bombarded by girls." she laughed looking into his gorgeous green eyes.

"Ava, the only girl I want is you." he told her kissing her again. This time it was deep and passionate. She pulled him towards her on the couch and began to lay down. "Ava, wait." he said sitting up.

"What's the matter Roger?" Ava asked looking up at him.

"Condoms." he answered looking down at her.

"I got it covered." she smiled reaching into her pocket. "Jimmy. He thought it would come in handy." she laughed looking up at him.

"That's Jimmy. Always looking out for me." he laughed looking down at her as he leaned in to kiss her.again. They laid down on the couch and began to make love. "I can't believe you still sing that song." he said holding her in his arms.

"I just started singing it again. I don't know. I guess knowing I was coming back to New York made me think about you more and more. I always loved that song." she smiled looking up at him.

"Me too. We wrote it together." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"So, tell me about your friends." she asked looking up at him.

"Well Mark and Collins are my roommates and Joanne is Maureen's girlfriend. They've gotten me through some really tough times." he said playing with her hair as he'd done years earlier.

"Like what?" she asked propping her chin on his chest.

"Well, heroin addiction, a girlfriends suicide, my HIV diagnosis, withdrawal another girlfriend dying of AIDS, stuff like that." he said caressing her face.

"I'm sorry Roger. If I hadn't..." she started when he interrupted her.

"No, none of that matters now Ava. We're together now and that's all I care about." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, when you left I stopped drinking. I kept hoping you would come back. When you didn't I went to Boston and stayed there for a semester hoping you would show up, but you never did." she said looking up at him as tears filled her eyes.

"I'm sorry Ava. I was so hurt, I couldn't go back. I was so afraid you were gonna drink yourself to death and I couldn't do it. I ran here and formed a band. Got into so really screwed up stuff. I don't know why I didn't go back. I wanted to. So many times, I wanted to, but then I saw you on Rolling Stone magazine, so I figured you were better off without me." he said wiping her tears from her face.

"Roger, I thought about you all the time. I wanted you to come and whisk me away from all this. I mean, I like the fame and the money and everything, but sometimes I just wish I could just be Ava, you know? Not have to worry about going to the store and having what I bought posted in the gossip columns or something." she said looking up at him.

"Have you ever thought about giving it all up?" he asked playing with her hair.

"Sometimes. But I love singing. I love performing. You're the one who always said I belonged up there." she smiled looking up at him as she wiped her eyes.

"You do Ava. But if you're unhappy, maybe you shouldn't..." he said looking into her bright blue eyes.

"I'm not unhappy, I just wish I could be me, you know? The me I was when I was with you." she said looking up at him.

"You can always be you with me. You know that." he smiled looking down at her.

"I know." she smiled leaning up to kiss him again before laying her had on his chest as they fell asleep on the couch in each others arms.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Mark." Roger called out as he and Ava entered the loft holding each other.

"Good afternoon." he smiled looking over at them.

"Hi Mark. I'm sorry we didn't go back into the bar last night. We had some catching up to do." Ava said smiling over at him.

"I figured. So what are you guys doing here? I thought you'd be in bed all day." he teased looking over at them.

"I needed to get my guitar and change my clothes." Roger said looking over at him.

"Your guitar? What are you doing with that?" Mark asked looking over at them.

"Mark, Ava asked me to join the band and I said yes." he said walking over to him.

"Roger, that's great. Are you gonna play tonight?" he asked smiling up at him.

"I want him to, but he doesn't think he's ready. Maybe you can talk to him." she smiled looking up at him.

"I said I go to practice with you and see if I still got it." he said looking down at her.

"You don't lose what you have from not playing with a band, you know?" she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Especially when he continuously strums Musetta's Waltz." Mark laughed looking over at them.

"You still play that damn song?" she asked looking up at him as he held her close to him.

"It's the first song I ever learned." he laughed kissing her head. "If I remember, you used to like when I played it." she smiled looking down at her.

"The first hundred times." she laughed leaning up to kiss him.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't we have to go to practice?" he asked looking down at her as she looked at her watch.

"Yeah, we do. If we're late, you know Jimmy and June are gonna torture us." she laughed looking up at him.

"Yeah, I know. You guys are coming to the concert tonight, right?" Roger asked looking over at Mark.

"We wouldn't miss it Rog. It was awesome seeing you again Ava. Are you guys hanging out later?" Mark asked as Roger rushed into his room to get changed and grab his guitar.

"I'm looking forward to it Mark. Listen, Roger told me all about what you guys did for him the last 10 years. Thank you for taking care of him. It means a lot." she said quietly looking over at him.

"He's my best friend Ava. I would do anything for him." he said smiling at her.

"Mark, I'm gonna be here for a week, so we can get to know each other before we go back on tour." she smiled looking up at him.

"I'd really like that Ava." he smiled looking down at him as Roger came out of his room.

"Are you ready Baby?" he asked putting his leather jacket back on.

"You still can't dress yourself." she laughed looking back at him.

"What? I thought you liked the way I dressed?" he said looking down at his clothes.

"Yeah, when I was 15 and didn't know better. I have my work cut out for me, don't I?" she laughed walking over to him.

"I guess so." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"We'll see you later Mark." she laughed as Roger held her in his arms.

"See you guys later." he laughed watching them leave.

* * *

"I knew it." Jimmy yelled coming out from behind his drum set to greet Roger and Ava.

"What did you know?" Roger asked looking over at him.

"I knew you were gonna rejoin the band. Right? I told you June. Roger's rejoining the band." he called out excitedly.

"Yeah, you called it Jim." he smiled looking over at him.

"Are you performing tonight?" Jimmy asked looking over at him smiling.

"I don't know. I want to see how much I know first." he laughed looking over at him.

"Roger, it's gonna be so cool. Us together again." he smiled looking over at them.

"It's gonna be great." Ava smiled looking up at them.

"Well, let's see what you got." June smiled looking over at them. Roger put his guitar on and began playing from the sheet music June had set out for him. Ava held her microphone and sang to him. He felt like old times. The days in his garage when they used to play together. Roger playing and singing with her. They were like one person back then and it was no different now.

* * *

"OK, now for your wardrobe." Ava laughed as they left the theater.

"What's the matter with my wardrobe?" he asked looking down at her.

"You can't be serious Roger." she laughed looking at him. He was wearing an old heavy metal t-shirt and worn blue jeans.

"Fine, let's see what you want me to wear." he asked as they walked down the block.

"Oh my God, you're Avalon. I love you." a young girl called out excitedly as she approached Ava.

"Hi. Thanks. I hope to see you at the concert tonight." Ava smiled looking over at her.

"I will definitely be there. Can I have your autograph?" she asked handing her a notebook and a pen.

"I would love to." she smiled signing a simple autograph before handing the young girl her notebook back.

"Are you Avalon's boyfriend?" the girl asked looking up at Roger.

"Yes. And he's also our new lead guitarist. This is Roger Davis." Ava smiled looking up at him as she signed her autograph.

"Can I have your autograph too?" the girl smiled looking up at Roger.

"Um... sure, I guess." he smiled uncomfortably before taking the notebook and signing his name.

"Thank you. We'll see you at the concert tonight." Ava smiled before they continued down 8th Avenue.

"Wow. That was cool." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah, it's pretty great." she smiled looking up at him. "That's what you have to look forward to." she smiled opening the door to a clothing store in Manhattan.

"All I'm looking forward to is being with you again." he smiled taking her into his arms.

"Me too Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Why don't we get married?" he said looking into her eyes.

"What?" she asked being taken by surprise.

"Why not? We always talked about getting married when we got out of college. And we're out of college." he smiled looking down at her.

"Roger, we just got back together last night." she said looking into his green eyes.

"I want to marry you Ava. I always wanted to marry you." he said caressing her face with his thumb.

"I always wanted to marry you too Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"So, why not? Let's get married." he smiled leaning down to kiss her again.

"OK. Let's get married." she laughed looking up at him.

"Yeah?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah. I love you Roger. What did you think I'd say?" she asked smiling at him.

"OK, so I guess we're getting married." he smiled leaning down to pick her up.

"Yeah we are." she smiled holding him tight.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you OK Baby?" Ava asked looking up at Roger.

"No. I've never performed in front of this many people before." he said looking around the wall to see the sold out crowd.

"Roger, you're gonna be fine. I promise. Just do what you did this afternoon and everything's gonna be fine." she smiled wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I don't know Ava. They're here to see you guys, not me." he said looking down at her.

"No, they're here to see us. You're here too. And you're gonna be great. I promise." she smiled leaning up to kiss him gently careful not to mess up her lip gloss.

"I love you Ava." he said looking into her eyes that were lined in thick black eye liner and black mascara.

"I love you too Roger. Now, come on. It's time for your debut." she smiled looking into his green eyes.

"Come on Rog, it's gonna be great. This is what we always wanted." Jimmy smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna be this nervous when I did." he said putting his guitar on.

"Rog, it's no different then when we used to perform in school. It's just a few thousand more people." June laughed looking up at him.

"Gee thanks man. That makes me feel so much better." Roger laughed over at him.

"No problem man. I'm there for you." he laughed as the lights went down.

"Here we go. I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Ava." he whispered putting his arm around her waist.

"And now, we're proud to introduce, Avalon." the announcer announced introducing them as they rushed onto the stage.

"Hey New York. How are you all doing tonight?" Ava asked as the crowd went wild. "As you can see we have a new guitarist. His name is Roger Davis, so I want all of you to make him feel welcomed, OK?" she smiled looking over at Roger who was standing a few feet from her. As the music started Roger's heart began pounding. He and Ava began singing. The bohemians just watched from the front row. None of them had ever seen Roger so happy. Not even Maureen. She was happy to see her friends back together again.

"They look great up there." Collins yelled over the cheering crowd.

"They always did." Maureen smiled looking up at him.

"Roger and I wrote this song many years ago." Ava smiled looking over at Roger as he began playing Tonight is What it Means to Be Young. As they sung together it felt like old times. They crowd cheered for them.

"Roger and I used to do this song together in high school. Are you ready Baby?" she asked smiling over at him.

"Yeah, I'm ready Baby." he smiled as he started Paradise by the Dashboard Light. _"__I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday, Parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight, And I never had a girl looking any better than you did, And all the kids at school said they were wishing they were me that night, And now our bodies are oh so close and tight, It never felt so good, it never felt so right, And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, C'mon, hold on tight, C'mon, hold on tight, Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light." _Roger sung as the bohemians cheered with the rest of the crowd.

_"Ain't no doubt about it we were doubly blessed, 'Cause we were barely seventeen, And we were barely dressed."_ Ava sung standing in front of Roger girating to the music.

_"Ain't no doubt about it, Baby got to go out and shout it, Ain't no doubt about it, We were doubly blessed." _they sung together smiling at each other.

_"'Cause we were barely seventeen, And we were barely dressed. Baby don'cha hear my heart, You got it drowing out the radio, I've been waiting so long, For you to come along and have some fun, And I gotta let you know, No you're never gonna regret it, So open up your eyes, I got a big surprise, It'll feel all right, Well I wanna make you motor run. And now our bodies are oh so close and tight, It never felt so good, it never felt so right, And we're glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife, C'mon, Hold on tight, C'mon, Hold on tight." _Roger continued getting into the music.

_"Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light, Paradise by the dashboard light." _they sung as the song ended. Ava jumped into Rogers arms laughing. Jimmy and June looked on happily. They hadn't seen Ava this happy in a very long time.

"Thank you. Good night." Ava smiled before exiting the stage. "You were amazing Baby. Oh my God." she yelled jumping into Roger's arms again.

"That felt really great." he laughed leaning in to kiss her as he held her in his arms.

"I told you that you could do it." she laughed holding him tight.

"That was incredible. I can't believe all those people were here to see us." he smiled looking over at June and Jimmy.

"Most of them are here to see Ava, but we have our fair share of fans." Jimmy laughed twirling his drum sticks.

"Come on. Let's get changed. I wanna hang out with Mark, Collins, Maureen and Joanne." Ava smiled looking over at them.

"OK." Roger smiled as they went back to the dressing room to get changed.

"They were really great up there, right?" Mark asked looking up at Collins.

"Yeah Mark, they were great. He seems really happy to be back with Ava." Collins said looking down at him.

"I'm just worried that he's getting in over his head. Ava's so famous and their lives are gonna be broadcast on every sleazy entertainment show on tv." he said looking over at Maureen.

"Mark, Roger and Ava have been in love since high school. They got through a lot together. They can handle anything that life has to throw at them. He's gonna be OK." she smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah well, I hope Ava takes care of him." Mark said as they walked to the bar around the corner. It was packed.

"This place wasn't this packed last night." Joanne said looking around.

"They're probably waiting for Ava to come in. They must have heard that she was in here last night." Maureen said looking around. Everyone who was there looked young and were dressed for a concert.

"Do you think we should go back to the Garden and warn them?" Collins asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, I think that might be a good idea." Maureen said as they left the bar. They ran into Roger, Ava, Jimmy and June down the block.

"What's the matter guys? We thought we were meeting you at the bar." June looked over at them.

"There's a crowd at the bar. We figured we'd go somewhere a little more intimate." Maureen said looking over at them.

"I know just the place too." Roger smiled as they walked to the subway.

"Where are we going Roger?" Ava asked looking up at him.

"You'll see." he smiled as they boarded the southbound train.

"I know where we're going. Good idea Rog." Collins smiled looking up at him as Roger held Ava in his arms.

"I thought so." he smiled kissing Ava's head as the train continued. They got off at the stop closest to the Life Cafe.

"Is this where you guys hang out?" Ava asked looking upat Roger as Collins held the door open for everyone.

"Yeah, it's really cool. We've had a lot of great times here." he smiled looking down at her pulling her chair out for him.

"Oh my God, you're Avalon. I am such a huge fan." the waitress said as she approached the table.

"Hey Rach, this is my fiance Ava." Roger smiled looking up at her.

"Your fiance?" Mark said looking over at them.

"Me and Ava were supposed to get married when we got out of college, and we're out of college. So why not?" he asked putting his arms around Ava.

"That's great Roger. I'm really happy for you guys." Maureen smiled looking over at them.

"I can't believe you know Avalon." Rachel said looking down at Roger.

"Know Avalon? He plays with her band now." Collins laughed looking over at her.

"You're kidding. Congratulations Roger. How do you know Avalon anyway?" she asked as Ava looked up at her.

"Roger and I went to high school together. We were in a band and we dated." Ava smiled looking up at her.

"Wow, you were in Transparent? That's really awesome Roger." Rachel smiled as Ava smiled up at Roger.

"Wow, you are a fan." Collins laughed looking up at her.

"Yeah, you can say that. What can I get you guys?" she asked directing her attention to her pad.

"Diet soda with lemon for me." Ava smiled looking up at her.

"Coke for me, thanks Rachel." Roger smiled looking down at Ava.

"Roger, you can have a beer if you want. I've been sober 10 years. I'm capable of being around people who drink without wanting a drink." she smiled looking up at him.

"Nah, I'm cool. I wanna have fun tonight and I don't need to drink to do that." he smiled leaning down to kiss her as everyone looked on happily.

"I can't believe you two are finally gonna get married. You guys used to talk about it all the time." Maureen smiled looking over at them.

"But so fast? I mean, you guys just got back together." Mark asked looking over at them.

"Mark, I always knew I wanted to marry Ava and now that we're back together, I don't want to lose her again." Roger said looking over at him.

"Mark, can I talk to you? Alone?" Ava asked looking over at Mark.

"Baby, are you...?" Roger started before Ava cut him off.

"It's OK Roger. I'll be right back." she smiled kissing him before going outside with Mark.

"I know what you're gonna say Ava..." Mark said looking over at her as she took his hand.

"Mark, I appreciate the fact that you've taken care of Roger all these years and you're concerned for him. I love him. I understand perfectly, but this is what we always dreamed of. Playing together and getting married. I'll take care of him Mark. I promise. I don't ever want anything to happen to him." she said looking over at him.

"What do you know about HIV?" he asked looking over at her.

"More than you might think. I've lost a couple of friends to it over the years and the last thing I want to do is lose Roger again." she said looking over at him as tears filled her eyes.

"I'm sorry Ava. I didn't know." he said looking down at her.

"It's OK. It just made me see that life is too short to worry about tomorrow." she said wiping her tears.

"He loves you, you know? He never stopped." he said smiling down at her.

"I know and I never stopped loving him." she smiled looking at him.

"What about those actors you dated?" he asked looking down at her.

"Most of them were just rumors." she said starting to laugh.

"Johnny Depp?" he asked smiling at her.

"Rumor. Christian Slater was real, but it didn't work out. I didn't love him. I mean, he was the sweetest guy, but he wasn't Roger, you know? I tried to go on with my life without him, but I couldn't get past my feelings for him. I always loved him." she smiled looking up at him.

"Congratulations Ava. You two deserve to be happy." he smiled leaning down to hug her.

"Thank you Mark. I love him too much to lose him again." she smiled hugging him tight.

"Thanks Ava. That means a lot to me." he smiled as Ava looked up at him.

"Now come on. Let's go inside and party." she smiled looking up at him.

"Good idea." he smiled opening the door for her.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, do you wanna go back to the hotel or stay at the loft?" Ava asked smiling up at Roger.

"I wanna go back to the hotel. I wanna be alone with my fiance." he smiled looking down at her.

"Fiance. I love the way that sounds." she smiled looking up at him.

"It took us long enough, huh?" he asked sweeping her into his arms.

"Yeah it did. But it was worth the wait." she smiled leaning up to kiss him before they started back to the hotel. When they got there, there was a crowd out front.

"Are all these people for you?" he asked looking over at them.

"They're here for you too, you know?" she laughed noticing the girls holding signs saying _I love Roger Davis._

"This is unreal." he said looking over at them.

"Yeah, welcome to being famous." she smiled looking up at him.

"Oh my God, there they are." a girl yelled seeing Roger and Ava standing on the corner.

"Ava, are you and Roger dating?" another girl asked as the crowd began approaching them.

"We better get out of here Baby." he said taking her hand and leading her away from the hotel.

"Are you and Roger getting married?" another girl asked as the crowd began running after them.

"Roger, where are we going?" she asked running behind him.

"Just follow me. I know this city like the back of my hand." he said as they ran through the streets of Manhattan. Roger couldn't believe all the fans Ava had. They continued running until they got to someplace familiar.

"Where are we?" she asked looking around.

"Alphabet city. I figured no one would find us at the loft." he smiled opening the door. "I can't believe all those fans. Isn't it scary?" he asked looking down at her.

"Not really. I mean, not usually. They never chased after me before. I think they were chasing after you." she laughed as they entered the building.

"They were actually chasing after me? I've never had people chase after me before. Unless I was a jerk and Mark and Collins came after me to yell at me." he laughed looking down at her.

"Get used to it Baby. You're gonna be seeing a lot of that." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Let's go upstairs. I wanna get you alone." he smiled burying his face in her hair.

"I would love that Roger." she smiled looking up at him before taking his hand and dragging him upstairs.

"Roger, Ava what are you guys going here? We thought you'd be baracaded in your hotel room for the next week." Collins laughed looking up from his book.

"There were fans outside the hotel waiting for us so Roger thought it would be best to come here." she smiled looking over at him.

"Face it Rog. You have to share your girl with the rest of the world." he smiled looking over at them.

"Apparently, I'm the one who has to do the sharing." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"You have crazed fans?" Collins asked smiling up at him.

"What? It's not that far fetched." he laughed looking over at him.

"You should have seen them Collins. They were holding signs that said _I love Roger Davis _and everything." she smiled going over to sit next to him on the couch.

"You're kidding?" he asked looking up at Roger.

"Why do you find it so hard to believe that I would have fans?" he asked sitting on the other side of Ava.

"No reason. It's just weird. Our little Roger has fan girls." he laughed looking over at him.

"Yeah but Ava's the only girl the matters to me." he smiled wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him.

"And you're the only one who matters to me too." she smiled looking back at Roger leaning in to kiss him.

"Come on, let's go to bed. I'm exhausted. It's been a really big day." he smiled looking over at them.

"It's been a really great day." she smiled looking over at him.

"I'll see you two in the morning. You guys were really great tonight. I am really proud of you." Collins smiled leaning in to hug Ava while smiling up at Roger.

"Thanks Collins. We'll see you in the morning." Roger smiled looking down at him as they got up and went into Roger's bedroom.

"Now that I have you alone, I know just what I want to do to you." she smiled pushing him on his bed.

"Well just be gentle with me, OK?" he smiled looking up at her.

"Don't worry Baby, I'll take care of you." she smiled leaning down to kiss him long and hard.

* * *

The next morning Roger got up early. He watched Ava who looked so peaceful. Her long golden blond hair was strewn across the pillow. He loved watching her sleep. She looked like an angel. He leaned over to kiss her head before getting up to take his pills. He went into the kitchen to make coffee. As he reached into the cabinet for his pill bottle Mark came out of his room.

"Rog, what are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Ava at the hotel?" he asked putting his glassess on.

"There was a crowd of fans outside the hotel, so I brought Ava here." he smiled popping the pill into his mouth.

"A crowd of fans, huh? I guess you're gonna have to get used to it." Mark smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah, I guess. But I really just want to be with Ava. I love her." he smiled as the coffee brewed.

"Roger, you deserve this. It's what you've been wanting since we met. I mean, being with Ava and on stage. You're finally getting what you've always wanted." Mark smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah, but I'm not looking forward to leaving you guys." he said leaning on the counter.

"You're not leaving us Rog, you're just following your dreams. And your heart." Mark smiled looking up at him.

"I know. Thanks man." Roger smiled as Collins entered the loft.

"You guys have got to read this article." he said loudly looking over at them.

"Shh, Ava's still sleeping." Roger said looking over at him.

"Not anymore. Who can sleep with 3 boys around?" Ava laughed stretching as she came out of Roger's bedroom. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of his boxers.

"Sorry we woke you up Baby." he smiled going over to her.

"That's OK Baby. I'm am early riser anyway." she smiled as he took her into his arms.

"Does anyone want to hear the article I read?" Collins asked looking over at them impatiently.

"We're sorry Collins. Go ahead." Ava laughed looking up at him as she she went to the kitchen for coffee.

"_The concert of the night last night, took place at the Garden. It was Avalon. Avalon, Jimmy and June were flawless, as usual. Avalon started off by introducing a new guitarist, Roger Davis, who will prove to be a very valuable addition to the band. His voice and guitar skills were very impressive for his first night. The chemistry between him and Avalon was undeniable. I wouldn't be surprised to hear them being linked in the near future. Avalon did all of her greatest hits and included a just unveiled song called Tonight is What it Means to Be Young, which she said she and Davis wrote years earlier. They even included a cover of Meat Loaf's Paradise By the Dashboard Light that rivaled Meat Loaf himself. Unfortunately, last night was their last area show, but I look forward to seeing them tour the west coast and return to New York soon." _Collins read as Ava smiled up at Roger who looked shocked.

"I told you Baby. You were amazing." she smiled looking up at him.

"Oh my God." he said looking down at her surprised.

"Rog, you were a hit." Mark smiled looking up at him.

"I don't believe it." he said sitting on the stool in the kitchen.

"I told you you were great Baby." Ava smiled wrapping her arms around his neck kissing his head.

"I just don't believe it. This is so unreal, you know?" he said looking up at Mark and Collins.

"Roger, you were really great. You deserve it." he said looking down at him as the phone rang.

"Get used to it Rog. You're bonafide rock star now." Collins smiled as he went to answer the phone. "Hello?" he said into the phone. "Hey Jimmy, yeah we read it... No they're right here... OK, we'll see you soon... Bye." he said looking over at them before hanging up at the phone.

"I hope they don't get followed." Ava said looking down at him.

"This is so unreal dude. I mean... WOW." he said getting up from the stool to pace the loft.

"Roger, this is what we always dreamed of. Playing Madison Square Garden and being in the paper. I thought you'd be happy." Ava said following him.

"I am. I mean, it's awesome. But, I'm just not used to it. I mean, you've had years to get used to it. This is new to me Ava. I don't know how to handle this." he said running his fingers through his hair.

"Roger, what are you saying?" she asked looking up at him.

"Baby, I'm not saying anything. I'm just gonna have to get used to it, that's all. I'll be OK." he said wrapping his arms around her kissing her head.

"Roger, if you don't want this life, it's OK." she said looking up at him.

"Ava, I do. I want my life to be with you and this is your life. That means it's my life too. It's just a little overwhelming. I'll be OK." he said taking her face in his hands and kissing her.

"Baby, I would never want you to be unhappy or overwhelmed. I'll do anything for you. If you don't want to be in the band, it's OK. We can still be together." she said looking into his green eyes.

"I'm not unhappy Ava. Actually, I've never been happier. I'll be OK. I promise. I want to be in the band and I want to be with you." he smiled holding her close to him.

"Roger, just say the word and we're done, OK? I'll do anything for you." she said looking up at him.

"I would never ask you to do that Ava. I want to do this with you. It's all I ever wanted." he said looking down at her.

"As long as you're sure Roger. I wouldn't want to make you unhappy. You're the only man I could ever love." she said looking up at him.

"Looks like you got your answer Babygirl." Collins smiled looking over at them.


	8. Chapter 8

"Roger, what do you have?" Ava asked sitting on the bed in their hotel room holding a notebook and a pen as Roger entered the room.

"You'll see." he smiled putting the box on the bed as Ava put her notebook and pen down on the nightstand.

"You have got to be kidding me?" she asked reaching in seeing the pictures of the two of them. "This is your prom picture." she laughed looking at the picture in the frame.

"Yep." he smiled taking a pile of pictures out of the box.

"Oh my God, look how young we were." she laughed smiling at Roger in the picture.

"11 years ago." he said sitting up next to her on the bed handing her pictures.

"I remember this. This was before our first show. Wow, I was so nervous." she laughed looking up at him as he slipped his arm around her shoulder to bring her closer to him.

"You did great Baby. You always did great. That's why you're the famous Avalon." he smiled leaning over to kiss her head.

"No, I'm the famous Avalon because of you. You're the one who put those fliers up at school." she smiled looking up at him.

"I fell in love with you because I put the fly\iers up at school. You're the famous Avalon because you have an awesome rock chick voice." he smiled leaning down to kiss her. As he kissed her she slid down to lay down on the bed. "How about I get this box out of the way and we take another walk down memory lane?" he smiled caressing her face with his thumb.

"I love that idea." she giggled looking up at him as he put the pictures back in the box before putting it on the floor and they began to make love. "Do you know what I was thinking?" she asked looking up at him.

"What's that Baby?" he asked smiling down at her.

"I was thinking we could check out of the hotel and spend the last couple of days we have in New York at the loft." she suggested smiling up at him.

"But I wanted to be alone with you." he whined playing with her hair.

"Roger, we're going on tour and we're getting married. I don't think we could get more alone." she laughed leaning her head on her elbow.

"Why do you wanna go to the loft?" he asked looking down at her.

"I wanna spend more time with your friends, and I like Alphabet City. We can be ourselves there." she smiled playing with his chest hair.

"You can always be yourself with me Ava." he smiled sitting up in the bed.

"I know, it's just that, I don't like being a prisoner in this hotel room. I wanna go out with you and hang out with our friends." she said sitting up next to him.

"OK Baby. If that's what you want." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah, it is. I wanna be Ava. Here I feel like I can't go out and just be Ava, you know? In Alphabet City I can." she said looking over at him.

"I know Baby. I think that's a great idea. We can spend more time with everyone until we leave." he smiled reaching over to caress her face.

"Thank you Baby. I love you." she smiled moving closer to kiss him.

"Ava, why don't we get married before we leave for the tour? You know, so everyone could be there." he suggested taking her face in his hands.

"Yes." she smiled looking up at him.

"Really?" he said looking at her surprised.

"Yeah, really. I said I'd marry you. I don't care where or when we get married Roger. I just care about being married to you." she laughed looking into his gorgeous green eyes.

"Rockin." he called out laughing as he took her in his arms.

"How about we get married in City Hall the day before we leave? It'll give us time to plan a small party with our friends." she laughed looking up at him.

"I gotta call Mark. You start packing. We'll check out today and start planning." he smiled looking down at her.

"OK. I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Ava." he smiled leaning in for another kiss before reaching for the phone to call Mark.

* * *

"Well if it isn't the rock super couple." Maureen smiled looking over at them as they entered the loft with Ava's bags.

"What are you talking about Maureen?" Ava asked looking down at her putting her bags down by the door.

"You guys are on the cover of every magazine and newspaper." Jimmy smiled handing her a newspaper.

"_Are Avalon and Roger married?" _Ava read from the front page of the New York Post.

"Who knew Roger's love life would be of any interest to anyone other than us?" Collins teased looking up at them.

"Well now we have to get married Baby. We can't disappoint our fans." Roger laughed wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

"We wouldn't want to disappoint anyone, now would we?" she laughed turning around to kiss him.

"What are you two talking about?" Mark asked smiling up at them.

"Don't try to keep up with them man. You'll only get a headache." June laughed sitting back on the couch drinking his beer.

"Ava and I are getting married the day before we leave for the west coast leg of the tour." Roger smiled looking over at them.

"But that's in 5 days. We can't plan a wedding on that short notice." Maureen yelled getting up from the recliner.

"Maureen sweetie, it's OK. We're just going to City Hall and having a small party with just you guys here. We don't need anything more than that." Ava smiled looking over at her.

"No way. You two waited long enough to get married, you should do it big." she smiled looking up at them.

"Maureen, all we need is our friends and each other. It'll be the perfect day." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"What about your parents?" Jimmy said looking over at them.

"Well I haven't spoken to mine since I left, so I don't know how they would feel if I called them out of the blue to invite them to my wedding." Roger said leading Ava over to the couch.

"Well it just so happens, I'm still really close to your parents and I know they would be thrilled if I called them and told them that we found each other and we were getting married." Ava smiled looking down at Roger as she stood over him.

"And what about your parents?" he asked looking up at her.

"Well, my mom lives in Florida now and I don't talk to my dad anymore. He refused to stop drinking or even realize what he did to me that summer, so I thought it was best if I didn't contact him anymore. When I hit it big, he tried, but I never returned any of his phone calls." she said sitting on his lap.

"I'm sorry Baby." he said playing with her long blond hair.

"Forget it. I'm fine. You always said I was too good to have a father like him anyway. I'm over it. I have a great mom and your dad was always like a dad to me, so I consider myself extremely blessed." she smiled leaning in to kiss him.

"And you have us now. We'll love you and support you no matter what Babygirl." Collins smiled looking over at them.

"You have no idea how much that means to me Collins. Thank you. Thank you for welcoming me into your family and thank you for not hating me for taking Roger away." she said looking up at him.

"He was always yours Ava. We were just taking care of him until you came back for him." Maureen smiled looking down at them as Roger leaned up to kiss Ava's head and everyone looked on happily.


	9. Chapter 9

"Maureen, would you stop showing me frilly wedding dresses? I'm not wearing anything like that. I'm wearing a white leather skirt and a simple white top. That's it." Ava said handing Maureen the magazine.

"But Ava, you're an international rock star. You can't get married in City Hall and you certainly can not wear a leather skirt and a blouse. You and Roger should get married in style.

"Listen to me Maureen, OK? Because I'm only gonna say this one more time. All I care about is having my friends, family and Roger at my wedding. Everything else is too much. Sweetie, I understand that your heart is in the right place and I love you for it, but you're getting all bridesmaidzilla on me. Now, if you don't quit it, me and Roger will get married in Vegas when we get out west. Play with me." Ava said pointing up at her as Roger, Jimmy and June entered the loft with Mark in tow.

"Fine. I'm sorry Ava. I was only trying to help." Maureen said submitting to her before plopping down to the couch.

"What'd we miss Baby?" Roger asked putting his bags down by the door before going to Ava on the couch.

"Nothing Baby. Just Maureen being Maureen again." she smiled looking up at him as he leaned down to kiss her.

"Maureen would you leave her alone, please. She doesn't want the Cinderella wedding. Get over it." Jimmy said looking down at her.

"I'm only trying to help my best friends have a wedding day to remember. What's wrong with that?" she asked looking up at him with her hands folded acrossed her chest.

"Maureen, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying the fact that I'm marrying Roger is reason enough for it to be a day to remember. I don't need the big fan fare. This is what we want. We want to get married with just our friends and our family there. No photographers, no reporters and no fans gawking at us. You see how Roger joining the band turned into us being called the rock super couple of the year. And every newspaper and gossip rag speculated on what our relationship was. It's gonna be hard enough for us to enter City Hall in New York City. Imagine if we went all out and planned this? It would be a nightmare and nothing would be the way we want it. We would spend our wedding day dodging photographers instead of celebrating what is going to be the happiest day of our lives." Ava smiled looking over at Maureen.

"I understand. I just hate the thought of you guys not getting the fairy tale happily ever after." she said looking over at them.

"We are getting our fairy tale happily ever after. It's just gonna be a rock and roll fairy tale." Ava laughed leaning up to hug her.

"I love you Ava." Maureen smiled hugging her back.

"And you know I love you too Maureen. You're my best girl friend. And you not only brought Roger back to me, but you gave me another wonderful family who loves me. I can't thank you enough for that. I always knew your meddling was gonna come in handy one day." she laughed kissing Maureens cheek.

"See Roger, I told you you'd appreciate my meddling one day." Maureen laughed looking over at Roger.

"Yeah, I never thought I would see the day when I would be thanking you for meddling in my life." Roger laughed looking over at them.

"Now, I have to get working on more songs for me and Roger. We have a tour coming up." Ava smiled looking over at them.

"Baby, you have to see what I bought today." Roger said smiling at Ava getting up from the couch and going to the bags he had brought into the loft.

"I hope you boys got him some stylish clothes." she laughed standing up in front of Maureen.

"Don't worry Ava. We got him some stage clothes. It's the off stage clothes we can't get him out of." June laughed looking over at her.

"You always liked the way I dressed." Roger whined holding a bag in his hands.

"I do. But you need to dress differently on stage." Ava smiled looking over at him.

"I got you something." he grinned handing her a bag.

"What is this Roger?" she asked taking a small box out of the bag.

"Open it." he smiled looking down at her.

"This is incredible. How did you...?" she started looking down at the ring in the box.

"My salary from the night we performed. Your manager gave it to me when I signed the contract this morning." he smiled looking down at her.

"This is beautiful Roger. I love it." she smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Here. Let me put it on you." he smiled taking it out of the box and slipping it on her finger. "It's perfect." he smiled bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss.

"You're perfect. I love you Roger." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Ava." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"I wanna call your parents. They'll be so happy." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby." he smiled kissing her head before she rushed to the phone happily.

"It's gonna be OK Roger. I promise." she smiled taking his hand as she dialed the phone. As she waited patiently for one of the Davis' to pick up the phone he stood next to her anxious. He hadn't spoken to his parents since the day he left Ava drunk in her bedroom 10 years earlier. He wondered how his parents were doing everyday since, but couldn't face them after leaving the way he did. He had sworn he would stick by Ava no matter what, but that day, he couldn't take anymore.he couldn't watch her kill herself. "Hi Mr. Davis, it's Ava." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Ava, we've been trying to get in touch with you for days. We read the review of your concert the other night. Is it true? Did you find Roger? Is he OK? What happened? Tell me everything." he asked anxious for her answers.

"Mr. Davis, it's true. Me and Roger are back together and he's in my band." she said excitedly as Roger wrapped his arms around her.

"Is he OK? I mean, really OK?" he asked sitting down in the chair.

"Yes, he's really OK Mr. Davis. Actually, he's right here. Do you wanna talk to him?" she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Yes, I do. Thank you sweetie. I love you kiddo." he smiled looking up at the pictures of Roger that were hanging in the house.

"I love you too Mr. Davis. Here he is." she smiled holding the phone out to Roger." Everything's gonna be OK Baby. Just talk to him. He misses you." she smiled caressing his face.

"Hi dad." he said quietly looking down at Ava who was still standing by his side.

"Roger, are you OK? What have you been doing? How did you and Ava find each other? You need to tell me everything." Mr. Davis rambled excited to be speaking to his son after 10 years.

"I'm sorry dad. I didn't mean to leave the way I did all those..." he started before his father interrupted him.

"It's OK Roger. We understand. It must not have been easy to see the love of your life suffering the way she was. So tell me, how have you been? How has everything been going? Are you OK?" he asked easing his sons fears.

"I'm OK dad. I'm in a band." he smiled looking down at Ava as everyone looked on smiling.

"Congratulations on that. It's what you've always wanted. I'm happy for you Roger. I really am." he smiled sitting back in the chair.

"Me and Ava are getting married dad. We're finally doing it." he smiled excitedly.

"Well it's about time. I've been waiting to hear those words for 10 years." he laughed crossing his legs. "So when's the big day?" he asked smiling at the pictures of Roger and Ava that still hung on the walls of the Davis house.

"In a few days. We're getting married in City Hall and having a party with our friends. We want you and mom to come." he said looking down at Ava.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world. Our son and his girl are finally internationally known rock stars and they're finally getting married. We're so happy for you two. You always knew you would marry her." he smiled as Mrs. Davis entered the house.

"Luke, I'm home." she called out before entering the living room.

"Abby, you will never guess who I'm on the phone with." he smiled looking up at her.

"Who?" she asked putting her shopping bags down.

"Hold on." he smiled before handing her the phone. "See for yourself." he smiled as she took the phone from him.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Hi mom." Roger said looking down at Ava who was holding him tight.

"Roger? Is that you? I mean, really you?" she asked looking down at her husband who had a smile from ear to ear.

"Yeah mom, it's me." he smiled as tears filled Ava's eyes.

"How are you? Are you OK? Are you and Ava back together?" she asked looking down at her husband with tears in her eyes.

"I'm great mom. Ava and I are getting married in a few days." he smiled caressing Ava's face.

"You're kidding? That's incredible. When?" she smiled as Mr. Davis got up and put his arms around her.

"In a couple of days. We're going to City Hall and then having a party with our friends and family. We want you and dad to come." he smiled looking down at Ava.

"Of course we'll be there. We would never want to miss this. You two belong together. We read your review in the paper. You were fantastic, I'm not surprised. You and Ava always did well together." she smiled wiping her eyes.

"Thanks mom. That means a lot." he smiled as he held Ava close to him.


	10. Chapter 10

"Mom, I'm not wearing that." Ava argued into the phone as Roger came out of the bedroom. "No mom, I already have what I wanna wear... Mom, I gotta go. I have things to do... OK, I love you too. Bye." she smiled hanging up the phone. "Ugh, why is it, I can command thousands to hang on my every word, but my own mother still treats me like a kid?" she asked looking up at him.

"What happened?" he asked laughing as he went over to her.

"My mother wants me to wear her dress. I am not wearing that thing. It's too frilly and girly. That's now me." she said looking up at him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Baby, calm down. It's gonna be OK. You'll wear what you want to wear and everything'll be perfect. But for the record, I'd be OK if you wore nothing." he smiled leaning down to kiss her neck.

"No way. You are not starting this again. I have too much to do and at this rate, we'll never be ready." she laughed looking over at him.

"Oh come on Baby. Maureen and Joanne are taking care of the party and your mom and my parents are doing the food and the flowers and stuff. Everything's right on schedule. I just want to spend time with my fiance." he whispered kissing her shoulders.

"Do you know how dangerous you are?" she laughed looking up at him.

"Who me?" he asked kissing up her neck.

"Yeah you." she smiled leaning her head back submitting to him.

"Yeah well, can I help it if my fiance is THE Avalon? The sexiest rock chick alive." he smiled picking her up and bringing her into the bedroom.

"You are a bad boy, Roger Davis." she giggled as they kissed furiously removing each other's clothes.

"Ava, are you here?" Maureen called out as she and Joanne entered the loft.

"I swear to God I am gonna be so glad when we're on tour and don't have to worry about that anymore." Roger said looking down at her.

"No you won't. You're gonna miss everyone." she laughed putting her shirt back on.

"Easy for you to say. You haven't had to deal with Maureen all these years." he said buttoning his pants.

"Oh stop whining." she laughed getting up from the bed. "We're coming Maureen." she called out leaving the room.

"Did we interrupt something?" Joanne asked seeing that her hair was a mess.

"What was your first clue?" Roger asked slipping his shirt over his head.

"Roger." Ava laughed looking back at him as Maureen seemed to ignore him.

"I found the most beautiful head piece for you." Maureen smiled taking the head piece out of the shopping bag.

"Maureen, do you listen to any thing I say?" Ava asked looking over at her.

"But look at this. It's perfect for you." she smiled showing it to her.

"This is really nice Maureen. Where did you find this?" Ava asked taking the headpiece. It was a crown of rhinestones and sapphires.

"A little bridal shop in Chelsea." she smiled as Ava looked over at her.

"Maureen, what were you doing in a bridal shop?" Ava asked with her hand on her hip.

"I was just looking, but just think, if I wasn't looking I never would have found this." she smiled trying to look innocent.

"Yeah yeah. You saved yourself on that one." Ava laughed looking down at the head piece. "I really like it Maureen. It's gorgeous. Thank you." she smiled looking over at her.

"Well, this is my cue. I'm gonna go take a cold shower." Roger mumbled looking down at Ava.

"I'm sorry Baby. But just think, we'll be together for the rest of our lives." she whispered looking up into his green eyes.

"I know Baby. I love you." he whispered leaning down to kiss her.

"I love you too." she smiled as he went into the bathroom and turned the shower water on.

"Is he OK?" Joanne asked looking over at Ava.

"Yeah, you know Roger." Ava laughed looking over at them.

"Yeah, I know Roger." Maureen laughed looking over at Ava.

"Anyway, have you thought of what you want to do for your bachelorette party?" Joanne asked trying to change the subject.

"I don't need a bachelorette party. I have the man of my dreams. I don't need to go out and watch men strip." she laughed looking over at her.

"Well, you do realize that Mark, Collins, Jimmy and June are taking Roger out to a strip club, right?" she laughed as Ava handed Maureen the head piece back.

"Yeah, I know Jimmy and June. They already warned me." she laughed going to the kitchen for a glass of iced tea.

"Well then you should have a bachelorette party." Maureen smiled looking over at her.

"Nah, I don't need one. Why don't we just sit around here and have a girl's night?" she smiled going over to the couch.

"That sounds like a great idea. We can swap stories." Joanne smiled looking over at her.

"OK then that's what we'll do." Maureen smiled looking over at Ava who looked happier than she had ever seen her.

* * *

"Where the hell are we going? I wanna go back to the loft and spend time with Ava." Roger whined as Mark and Collins dragged him to the Life Cafe.

"Oh stop your bitching. You can survive a couple of hours without her." Collins laughed putting his arm around Roger's shoulders as Mark opened the door.

"I've been without her 10 years." he whined looking over at him.

"So a couple of hours won't kill you." Mark smiled as they entered the cafe.

"Very funny." he smiled looking down at him.

"Hi Roger." Mr. Davis smiled looking over at his son.

"Dad? Dad, you look really good." he smiled as tears came to his eyes.

"You look really good too Roger. I missed you." Mr. Davis smiled pulling his son into an embrace.

"I missed you too dad. I'm really sorry for running away. I left because I was afraid to watch Ava kill herself and then I saw that she was doing good and she hit it big and everything and I didn't want to interrupt her life and I didn't know how to face you..." he started before his father cut him off.

"It's OK Roger. What's done is done. As long as you're OK, that's all that matters to me and your mother. It's OK son." he said looking into his sons green eyes.

"Where's mom?" he asked looking over at him.

"She went to see Ava with Sue. They'll be here in a little while." he smiled as Roger looked over at Collins and Mark.

"You guys knew about this?" he asked as Collins stood with his arm around Mark's shoulder smiling at them.

"Define know." Mark laughed looking up at him.

"Dad, these are my best friends Mark Cohen and Tom Collins. They like to torture me, as you can tell." he laughed looking over at them.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both. Thanks for taking care of my boy." he smiled leaning in to hug them.

"No problem Mr. D. It wasn't easy at times, but we kept the boy in his place." Colins laughed looking down at him.

"Well that's good." Mr. Davis laughed looking over at them as they sat down.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you and mom. It's really important." Roger started looking over at his father.

"Whatever it is Roger, it's OK. None of it matters." he said looking over at him.

"Thanks dad. That means a lot to me, but you might want to wait before you make that promise." he said looking over at Collins and Mark who were silent.

"Roger, you're my son. Whatever it is, we're here for you." he said looking over at him smiling.

"Dad, when I get here I was really screwed up. I missed Ava and I didn't know what to do. I started playing in a band and I got involved with this girl April and we got into shooting heroin. Dad, April killed herself and I got HIV." he blurted out looking over at his dad.

"Oh Roger, I'm so sorry. Are you OK? Are you taking care of yourself?" he asked leaning towards him.

"Yeah dad. I've been clean for 4 years and I'm on good meds. My viral load is low and my t-cells are high. I'm fine dad." he said looking down.

"As long as your clean now and you're doing fine, that's all that matters Roger. You're my son and I love you. I'm not gonna judge you." he said bringing Roger into an embrace.

"Thanks dad. You have no idea how much I regret doing what I did. I left Ava because she was drinking and I go out and put that shit in my arms and get HIV." Roger cried into his shoulder.

"I know son. It's OK. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be OK." he said comforting his son as Ava and the rest of the women entered the cafe.

"Roger, are you OK?" Ava asked rushing over to them seeing Roger was upset.

"Yeah Baby. I'm fine." he smiled wiping his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You look incredible Ava. Better than the magazine articles make you look." Mr. Davis smiled looking over at her.

"Thanks Mr. Davis." she smiled looking down at Roger.

"I'm fine Ava. I promise." he said leaning up to kiss her.

"It's so nice to see you again Ava." Mr. Davis smiled patting Roger's leg before standing up to hug Ava.

"It's great to see you too Mr. Davis. You look really good. If this is what I have to look forward to when Roger gets older, it's a good thing I'm marrying him." she laughed hugging him tight.

"Listen to me Ava, you're finally marrying my son, I think it's safe for you to call me dad now." he smiled looking down at her.

"I would be honored dad." she smiled looking over at him.

"Hi Roger." Mrs. Davis said looking down at her son.

"Hi mom. I'm really sorry." he said getting up to hug her.

"Forget about it Roger. All that matters is that you're OK and we're here now. You look so handsome." she smiled hugging her son tight.

"Hi Ms. Parker." Roger smiled looking over at her.

"Hi Roger. You look really good." Ms. Parker smiled looking up at him.

"Thanks. Why don't we all sit down. There's something I need to tell you and I think it would be better if we sat down." Roger said looking over at the women as they sat down.

"Roger, what is it?" Mrs. Davis asked looking up at him.

"Please mom, just sit down, OK?" he asked as Ava clutched his hand.

"OK we're down. Now tell us." she said looking up at him as she sat next to her husband.

"Mom, Ms. Parker when I left I came here and I got into some really bad stuff. I started shooting heroin and I'm HIV positive. I quit using 4 years ago and I'm clean. I'm on some really good meds, so I'm healthy. I'm really sorry mom." Roger said looking over at her.

"You're clean? Completely clean?" Ms. Parker asked looking over at him.

"Yes Ms. Parker. I'm completely clean. And me and Ava take precautions, so she isn't at risk. I would never play games with her health. I love her." he said looking over at her.

"And you're healthy?" Mrs. Davis asked holding her husbands hand.

"Yeah mom. I'm healthy. I'm on good meds and I take care of myself." he said looking over at her as Ava held his hand tight.

"Roger, it's OK. We'll get through this. Everything is gonna be fine. You and Ava are back together and you're gonna be fine." she smiled getting up to hug him.

"Thanks mom. That means a lot to me." she said looking down at her as they hugged.

"Now, we have a pre wedding celebration to get on with." Ms. Parker smiled looking over at Ava who was smiling up at Roger and Mrs. Davis.

"I'll drink to that." Collins smiled as everyone laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

"Fuck, why am I so nervous?" Ava asked looking in the mirror outside the court room where Roger was waiting for her.

"Watch your mouth Avalon." Ms. Parker said fixing Ava's hair.

"Sorry mom, but I'm really nervous. I've been wanting to marry Roger since I was 15 years old." she said looking over at her.

"Sweetie, everything is gonna be fine. You love Roger and he loves you. You two always were happiest when you were together." Ms. Parker smiled looking into her daughters bright blue eyes.

"Thanks mom. I love you." Ava smiled leaning in to hug her.

"I love you too Avalon. Now, it's time to go in and marry your prince." she smiled looking over at her.

"OK mom. I'm ready." she smiled turning towards the door and getting ready to enter the room. As the door opened she caught a glimpse of Roger. He looked so handsome. He was wearing a suit that he and Collins went out to buy a couple of days before.

"She looks beautiful Roger." Collins whispered leaning over to him.

"Yeah, she does." Roger smiled as tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe that after all they had been through together and apart, they were finally getting married. He didn't care that she was the famous rock star Avalon. All he cared about was that he was marrying his Ava. The love of his life. As the ceremony began everyone in attendance cried tears of joy.

* * *

"That was so beautiful." Maureen smiled as they sat in the loft.

"Yeah, it was worth the wait." Ava smiled looking up at them as she sat on Roger's lap.

"I would like to propose a toast. To Roger and Ava." Mr. Davis smiled looking down at them as he, Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Davis passed around champagne glasses filled with sparkling cider.

"To Roger and Ava. They're finally married after all these years of waiting and now they're going on tour together." Mrs. Parker smiled looking over at them holding up her glass.

"I'll drink to that." Roger smiled leaning up to kiss Ava before taking a sip of his cider.

* * *

"Take care of yourself, OK Roger." Mrs. Davis told him as they stood outside the Avenue A building.

"Don't worry mom. I got my girl back, we'll take care of each other." he smiled looking down at Ava.

"Ava honey, make sure he takes his medication everyday, OK?" Mrs. Davis smiled looking down at Ava.

"I promise mom. I'll make sure." she smiled leaning over to hug her.

"You two just have fun." Mr. Davis smiled hugging them both.

"We will dad. I love you." Ava smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too sweetie. You were always like a daughter to me and now you are my daughter." he smiled caressing her face with his hand.

"OK dad, can I have my wife back? We have a tour to get to." Roger laughed looking up at his father.

"You take care of your wife, OK? You've waited for each other for a long time." he smiled looking over at him.

"Don't worry dad. I'll cherish her. It seems I'm the luckiest man alive. But I've always known that." he smiled looking down at Ava.

"OK Mr. Davis, we have to go." Ava laughed looking up at him.

"Coming Mrs. Davis. We'll call you guys when we get to LA." Roger smiled looking over at the bohemians.

"OK Rog. Take care. We'll see you when you get back." Collins smiled hugging him.

"Call us everyday, OK? I mean it. We want all the cool details from the road, OK?" Maureen said looking up at Roger.

"We will Maureen. I wouldn't want to lose touch with all my friends, new and old." Ava smiled looking at all the bohemians.

"We wouldn't either Babygirl. We kind of like having 2 rock stars in the family." Collins smiled leaning down to hug her.

"Thanks Collins. I love you all so much." she smiled looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Don't start Babygirl. You start and then me, Maureen and Joanne'll get going and then poor Marky won't have a chance." Collins laughed caressing her face.

"Sorry. We better go. My manager is gonna kill me as it is. Hiring another guitarist and getting married kind of caught him off guard." she laughed looking up at him.

"OK. Just have fun and be careful, OK?" Mark smiled looking over at them.

"We will Mark. We'll be back before you know it." Roger smiled hugging him.

"Have fun, OK?" Ms. Parker smiled looking over at them.

"We will mom. Bye." Ava smiled as they got in the limo and headed to the airport.

"Do you think they'll be OK?" Mrs. Davis asked looking up at her husband.

"Abby, I think they're gonna be more OK than they've been in 10 years." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"I agree." Ms. Parker smiled looking up at him.

"OK, so when we get home from the tour, where are we gonna live? In Hicksville or the East Village?" Roger asked looking down at her with his arm around her as they rode in the limo.

"Well, I do own a house in Hicksville, but your life and my new friends are in the East Village, so I was thinking we would talk about it and decide together." she smiled looking up at him.

"What ever you want will be fine with me Baby. I love you and where ever you are that's where I want to be." he smiled leaning over to kiss her.

"We'll talk about it." she smiled wrapping her arms around him as they stopped in front of the hotel to pick up Jimmy and June.

"Must you two? You're married now. Aren't you supposed to be done with this lovey dovey stuff?" Jimmy teased as he got into the limo.

"Shut up Jimmy. You always were jealous that she was my rock chick." Roger teased as Ava buried her face in his chest laughing.

"Yeah Jimmy. You always were jealous." June laughed looking over at them.

"Is this what we're gonna have to deal with for this whole tour?" Jimmy asked closing the door to the limo.

"Probably." Ava laughed looking up at Roger.

"Oh great." Jimmy laughed leaning back in the car as they continued to the hotel.

"So, we have to start writing some new songs. One's for you and me." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"What's the matter with the songs you've been writing? I really like them." he smiled leaning over to kiss her head.

"You were always better at writing songs." she smiled looking up at him.

"Well you seem to be holding your own the last 10 years. You have some really great song." he smiled as Jimmy and June looked on happily.

"Well, I learned from the best." she smiled looking up at him as she laid back in his arms.


	12. Chapter 12

"Mhmm, good morning." Ava smiled looking over at Roger, who was leaning on his elbow staring down at her. They were in a hotel room in Los Angeles on tour.

"Good morning Baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Are you ready for today?" she smiled rolling over to face him.

"I don't know. How crazy is it gonna be?" he asked playing with her hair.

"It's gonna be insane. We have to do a talk show and then we have rehearsals and wardrobe fittings. Things are different out here than it is at home." she told him playing with his chest hair.

"Home. We haven't talked about that yet, have we?" he asked looking over at her.

"What do you mean Baby?" she asked looking up at him.

"Where's home gonna be?" he asked looking over at her.

"Roger, where ever you want it to be. I don't care where we live, as long as I'm living with you, I'm happy." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"How about we get a place in the village? We can still be close enough to the loft, but not have to worry about everyone under our feet." he smiled looking over at her.

"That is an excellent idea. So I guess home is the village." she smiled looking up at him.

"What about your house in Hicksville?" he asked looking down at her.

"I only bought it when my mom moved to Florida, and I didn't want to lose the last place I ever saw you. But we can keep it because it's close to your parents." she said as he brought her close to him.

"That's a great idea Baby But it's OK, I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere." he said leaning down to kiss her head.

"I know Roger." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"I love you Ava." he smiled kissing her harder.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled crawling on top of him.

"Hey Davis', are you up yet?" Jimmy called out knocking on the door.

"I'm gonna kill him." Roger groaned looking up at Ava.

"No you're not. If you kill him, who's gonna play drums. You can kill him after the tour is over." she laughed climbing off of him.

"Good point. I'll wait." he laughed looking over at her as they put their robes on to answer the door.

"Hey Rog. You still look like shit in the morning." Jimmy laughed patting Roger's chest as he entered the room.

"Be careful Jimmy, he wants to kill you right now." Ava laughed looking over at him sweeping her hair back.

"I interrupted sex, huh?" he laughed sitting on the chair in the corner of the room.

"Did you want something or did you come to torture us?" Roger said looking over at him.

"I just came to make sure you guys were up. We have to get ready for Leno." he smiled looking up at them.

"Leno? You didn't tell me we were going on Leno." Roger said looking over at Ava.

"Roger, I said talk shows. Which ones did you think I was talking about? Leno's the big time." she smiled looking over at him.

"Leno. Oh man. I don't know if I'm ready for that." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, it's OK. You performed in Madison Square Garden. Baby, you can do this. We're gonna do Tonight is What it Means to Be Young. You know that song better than anything. You can do this. Don't worry about it." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Ugh, I hate when you're like this." he groaned looking into her blue eyes.

"What am I like?" she asked smiling up at him innocently.

"So confident. You have such faith in me." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, you're as good as they come and you and me wrote that song together.No one knows it better than you. We're gonna be great. I promise." she smiled pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"OK, I'm out of here. Don't take too long. Leno's people said they want us there for sound check." Jimmy smiled looking over at them before leaving the room.

"Thank you Jimmy." Ava called out laughing as Roger picked her up and carried her to the bed.

"Now, where were we?" Roger asked dropping her on the bed before crawling on top of her.

"I believe we were right here." she laughed pulling him off of her so that she was on top of him.

"I remember now." he smiled leaning up to kiss her passionately as they began making love.

* * *

"So this is Leno?" Roger asked looking around as they entered the studio.

"Yep. It's bigger then it looks on tv, huh?" Ava smiled with her arm around his waist.

"Much bigger. Wow." he said looking around.

"Just think, you performed in front of more people at the Garden." June said looking up at him.

"Yeah, if you don't count all the people seeing it on tv." he said as Jimmy stood by the stage sitting behind his drums.

"Roger, don't worry about it. You're gonna be amazing." Ava smiled holding him closer as they started soundcheck.

* * *

"And now to perform her new song Tonight is What it Means to Be Young, it's Avalon." Jay Leno announced as the audience cheered for them.

As the music started Ava smiled over at Roger. He looked so confident playing his guitar. She grabbed the microphone and began singing. "_I've got a dream 'bout an angel on the beach and the perfect waves are starting to come, his hair is flying out in ribbons of gold, and his touch has got the power to stun, I've got a dream 'bout an angel in the forest, enchanted by the edge of a lake, his body's flowing in the jewels alive, and the earth below is starting to shake, but I don't see any angels in the city, I don't hear any holy choirs sing, and if I can't get an angel, I can still get a boy, and a boy'd be the next best thing, the next best thing to an angel, a boy'd be the next best thing, I've got a dream 'bout a boy in a castle, and he's dancing like a cat on the stairs, he's got the fire of a prince in his eyes and the thunder of a drum in his ears, I've got a dream 'bout a boy on a star, lookin' down upon the rim of the world, he's there all alone and dreamin' of someone like me, I'm not an angel but at least I'm a girl, I've got a dream when the darkness is over, we'll be lyin' in the rays of the sun, but it's only a dream and tonight is for real, you'll never know what it means, but you'll know how it feels, it's give me be over (over), before you know it's begun, (before you know it's begun), it's all we really got tonight, stop your cryin' hold on (tonight), before you know it it's gone (tonight), tonight is what it means to be young, tonight is what it means to be young, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), say a prayer in the darkness for the magic to come, no matter what it seams, tonight is what it means to be young, before you know it it's gone ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(before you know it it's gone...), before you know it it's gone, I've got a dream when the darkness is over, we'll be lyin' in the rays of the sun, but it's only a dream and tonight is for real, you'll never know what it means, but you'll know how it feels, it's give me be over (over), before you know it's begun (before you know it's begun), it's all we really got tonight, stop your cryin' hold on (tonight), before you know it's gone (tonight), tonight is what it means to be young, tonight is what it means to be young..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started, we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted, let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), say a prayer in the darkness for the magic to come cause no matter what it seams, tonight is what it means to be young ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), tonight is what it means to be young...(tonight is what it means to be young...), no matter what it seams ...(before you know it it's gone...), tonight is what it means to be young..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), the things they say, and the things they do, nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true.., the things they say, and the things they do, nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true..., the things they say, and the things they do nothin's gonna stop us if our aim is true..., let the rebels begin, let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin let the fire be started ...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the restless and the broken-hearted...(before you know it it's gone...), let the rebels begin, let the fire be started...(tonight is what it means to be young...), we're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted ...(before you know it it's gone ."_ Ava sung centering around Roger. The audience roared with applause.

"Wow. Now, is this gonna be on your new album." Jay Leno asked leaning down to hug Ava.

"Yeah actually. Roger and I wrote it about 11 years ago when we were in high school." Ava smiled as Roger joined her at center stage.

"11 years? So are the rumors true? Are you and Roger dating?" he asked looking over at her.

"Actually, we got married the other day. We broke up 10 years ago and just recently reconnected." she smiled putting her arm around his waist.

"Well congratulations. You two look really happy." he smiled looking over at Roger who was smiling down at her.

"We are." Roger smiled looking over at Jay.

"Now, you guys just played New York, right? What was that like?" he asked looking down at Ava.

"It was amazing. I love New York very much. I can be myself in New York." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Well you've just launched your west coast tour, right?" he said looking over at them.

"Right, we're playing here in LA tonight and tomorrow night and then we're in Las Vegas." Ava smiled looking up at Jay.

"Well, thank you Avalon. Don't miss Avalon tonight and tomorrow and all across the west coast." Jay Leno announced clapping as Ava, Roger, Jimmy and June left the stage.

"That was incredible." Roger smiled looking up at them.

"You were perfect Baby." Ava smiled looking up at him wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I can't believe I was on Leno." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"Well you were Baby." she smiled holding him close.

"That was better than any high I've ever experienced." he said kissing her head.

"That's what I'm saying." she laughed looking over at him.

"Wow. I have to call Mark." he smiled looking down at her.

"Already taken care of. They'll be tuning in tonight. And I told them to make sure they tape it for us." she smiled looking up at him.

"You are the best wife ever." he smiled kissing her again.

"I know." she laughed looking into his eyes.

"Come on guys. We have to go to rehearsal and get ready for the show." Jimmy smiled looking over at them.

"Sorry Jimmy. Let's go Baby." Roger smiled looking down at Ava.

"OK Baby." she smiled as they began to leave the studio.


	13. Chapter 13

"I can't believe we're finally home." Roger smiled looking up at the Ave. A and 10th St. building.

"Are you happy?" she smiled looking up at him as they unloaded their bags from the trunk of the limo.

"You have no idea how happy I am." he smiled slinging the bags over his shoulders.

"Did you call anyone and tell them we were coming in tonight?" Ava asked as Roger shut the trunk.

"No. I thought it would be more fun to surprise them." he smiled taking his keys out to open the door.

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone's home up there." she said looking up at the loft.

"So we'll drop the bags off and surprise them at the Life Cafe." he smiled as they climbed the long stairs up to the loft.

"I'm so glad we're home. I hate flying." she said looking up at him as he opened the loft door.

"So do you want to just go to bed and surprise them in the morning?" he ased looking down at her.

"Nah, it's OK. I need some relaxation with my husband and friends." she smiled looking up at him as they put the bags in their bedroom at the loft.

"You know, everyone will understand if we just stay home." he smiled taking her into his arms.

"Roger, I'm fine. I just need to be me tonight, you know? No Avalon. I need to be Ava Davis tonight." she smiled looking up at him.

"Ava Davis, huh? OK Baby. If it's Ava Davis you want, it's Ava Davis you're gonna be." he smiled kissing her head before they left the loft to go to the Life Cafe. As they walked with their arms around each other, they laughed and enjoyed their surroundings. There were no crowds, fans, reporters or photographers waiting to capture their every intimate moment. They could just be Mr. And Mrs. Roger Davis. When they entered the Life Cafe, they jumped back.

"SURPRISE!!" everyone yelled laughing scaring them.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Roger asked looking over at them.

"June called and told us you were on your way, so we wanted to have a welcome home party for you." Maureen smiled rushing over to them.

"We were hoping for as little fan fare as humanly possible." Roger said looking down at Ava.

"What fan fare? We're just welcoming our friends the Davis' back from their trip." Mark smiled looking up at Roger.

"Thank you guys. This is the most amazing thing." Ava smiled hugging Mark.

"You guys looked so great on Leno. Oh my God." Joanne smiled looking over at them.

"You have no idea how nervous I was. I almost had a nervous breakdown before we went on." Roger smiled holding Ava in his arms.

"You didn't look it, man. You looked great." Collins smiled putting his arm around Roger's shoulder.

"Thanks." he smiled looking up at him.

"Now, we party." Ava called out looking up at everyone.

"I second that." Collins smiled as they went to their table.

"Roger, Ava it's great to have you guys home." Rachel smiled looking over at Roger and Ava.

"Thanks Rachel, it's nice to be home." Ava smiled hugging Rachel.

"Club soda with lime and a beer?" she asked looking over at them.

"Yeah, thanks Rach." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"So, how was the tour?" Mark asked winding his camera.

"It was amazing. Better than I ever dreamed it would be." Roger smiled looking over at him with his arm around Ava.

"It was the greatest tour I've ever been on." Ava smiled looking up at Roger. As they sat around, they talked and laughed. They told stories about when Roger and Ava were teenagers.

"I remember the first day I walked to school with them. Oh my God, they were so nauseating." Maureen laughed looking up at them.

"_Eww, must you guys?" Maureen complained coming out of the house with Jimmy._

"_Get used to it Reen. This is what you have to look forward to when you walk to school with the cool kids." Jimmy laughed propping his book bag onto his shoulder._

"_What is she doing here?" Roger asked looking down at Maureen._

"_She wanted to walk with us." Jimmy said looking over at her._

"_Yeah, so get used to it Davis." Maureen said starting to walk down the block._

"_Yeah well, I'm too happy for even her to piss me off today." Roger smiled looking down at Ava._

"_What is it with you two? You're even more gross than usual." Jimmy asked looking over at them noticing they were happier than usual._

"_Nothing, we're just young, in love and on top of the world." Roger smiled as they started walking._

"_This is gonna be a long day, isn't it?" he asked looking over at them._

"_Sorry Jimmy." Ava smiled looking up at Roger._

"_Oh geez." he said as June came out of the house and they continued on to school._

"Sorry to have to tell you this Reen, but Roger and I had sex for the first time the night before. That's why we were acting like that." Ava laughed looking up at Roger.

"You mean, you guys lost your virginity the night before? Eww." she called out downing her wine.

"Yep. Sorry." Ava laughed as Roger kissed her head.

"It was the greatest night of our lives." Roger smiled as everyone looked at them.

"OK, I wanna hear about Ava and Roger's first date." Mark smiled filming everyone.

"The school dance." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"You guys went school dances?" Joanne asked looking at them.

"Went to them? They were the spotlight of every one of them." Maureen smiled looking over at her.

"Roger asked me to go to the dance with him and the rest of the band, but them he had Jimmy, June and Will back out so it would just be the two of us. It was cute actually." Ava laughed looking up at Roger as they remembered.

"_So what are you doing Friday night Ava?" Jimmy asked looking over at her as she walked next to Roger and June._

"_Roger asked me to hang out with you guys at the dance." she said looking over at him as June looked over at Roger in disbelief._

"_Well, I can't go. We're having dinner at my gramma's house for her birthday." June said looking up at Roger who looked relieved._

"_Yeah, me neither. I have a huge English report due on Monday and I really gotta get some work done on it if I'm gonna be able to go to rehearsal on Saturday." Jimmy said looking down at Ava._

"_That's too bad. I guess it's just me, Roger and Will then." she said looking up at Roger._

"_Oh, I forgot to tell you. Will has to go someplace with is parents. I just found out last night." Roger said thinking fast._

"_So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" she smiled looking up at him._

"_I guess. Unless you doing wanna go now." he said looking down at her as June and Jimmy looked at one another._

"_No, I wanna go. It sounds like fun." she smiled looking up at him as they approached the school._

"_Well, if it isn't Transparent. In the flesh." Will called out funning up to them._

"_Hi Will. Roger just told me about you not being able to go to the dance with us Friday night. That sucks." Ava said as Roger looked at him, his eyes wide._

"_Um, yeah. Parents." he complained playing along with Roger._

"_That's OK. Oh, I gotta go. I'm gonna be late for homeroom. See you guys later." she smiled before leaving to go inside._

"_Bye Ava." Roger smiled looking down at Will hit him. "Ow, what the hell?" he asked looking over at him._

"_Why does Ava think I can't go to the school dance?" Will asked looking at him._

"_Because I kind of asked her to go with me and I told her we were all going, but I really want to go alone with her." he said looking over at him_

"_So why didn't you ask her to go with you as a date?" Will asked looking up at him._

"_I was gonna but I punked out. I like her." he said looking up at him._

"_So now, what are we supposed to do Friday night? Our parents think we're going to the school dance and now to cover your ass with Ava, we can't go." Jimmy asked looking over at him._

"_I don't know, but I really want to be alone with her. So I would really appreciate it you guys didn't come." he said looking over at them._

"_OK Rog. I think we can do that." Will smiled at him before they all went into the school._

"_Thanks man." Roger smiled looking up at them._

* * *

"_Hi Roger. You look so nice." Ms. Parker said looking up at him as he stood in the doorway wearing dress pants and a black button down shirt._

"_Thank you Ms. Parker. Is Ava ready?" he asked looking down at her._

"_I think so. Avalon, Roger is here." Ms. Parker called out smiling up at Ava._

"_Hi Roger." she smiled looking down as she came down the stairs. She was wearing a pretty pink skirt and a white sweater. She had on pink pumps and her hair was half up in a pony tail._

"_Ava, you look so beautiful." he said smiling up at her._

"_Thank you Roger." she smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs._

"_Roger, are you OK?" Ms. Parker asked smiling up at him._

"_Um... yeah, I'm... you look so beautiful Ava." he smiled stumbling over his own words._

"_Thank you Roger." she laughed looking up at him._

"_I'm sorry Ava. Um... are you ready to go?" he asked smiling down at her._

"_Yeah, I'm ready." she smiled looking over at her mother._

"_Midnight, OK Roger?" Ms. Parker said smiling at them._

"_Yes ma'am." he smiled still looking down at Ava._

"_Come on Roger. We gotta go." she smiled looking up at him._

"_Oh, right. Sorry." he smiled looking down at her as they left the house._

"_Are you OK Roger?" Ava asked looking up at him as they stood on the sidewalk in front of Ava's house._

"_Yeah, you just look so beautiful Avalon." he smiled sweeping her into his arms._

"_Roger, we have to go to the dance." she laughed looking up into his gorgeous green eyes._

"_I know. I just want to stare at you for a little while." he smiled looking into her blue eyes that were lined in black eyeliner._

"_I like when you look at me." she smiled as he leaned in to kiss her._

"_I like looking at you." he smiled holding her in his arms. "OK, we can go now." he smiled looking down at her._

"_OK." she smiled kissing him one more time before they began walking to school._

"That sounds so romantic." Joanne smiled taking Maurenn's hand.

"Yeah, Roger was my romantic." Ava smiled looking up at him.

"Was?" he asked taking her into his arms.

"You still are, but things are different now. We're older, wiser, more weathered. But I like how we are now." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Me too Baby." he smiled caressing her face.


	14. Chapter 14

"_Is this Roger and Avalon's secret love nest?" _Mark read on the front cover as he picked up the news paper. "This is not good." he said paying for it before rushing back to the loft. "Roger, Ava get up." he called out entering the loft.

"Mark, what the hell? It's 8 o'clock in the morning." Roger asked coming out of his room wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants.

"You're not gonna believe what's on the front cover of the news paper." he said handing it over to him. There was a picture of him and Ava kissing in front of the building after their night out.

"Oh shit. Ava is not gonna like this at all. This is the one place where she doesn't have to be Avalon and now that's ruined." he said running his fingers through his hair looking down at him.

"What's going on out here?" Ava asked coming out of hers and Rogers bedroom wearing a pair of his boxers and an old t-shirt.

"Good morning Baby." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her as he handed off the news paper to Mark.

"Good morning, but what do you two have there?" she asked reaching for the news paper.

"Now don't freak out Baby." he said as she looked at the cover.

"I can't believe this. I can't have anything for myself with these people. How did they even find us?" she asked pacing around the loft.

"I don't know Baby, but we won't let them anywhere near you. I promise." he said looking down at her.

"How Roger? They're everywhere. We were prisoners in our hotel room throughout the whole tour because they were waiting for us everywhere we went and now they found us here. This was our only sanctuary and they've taken that away from us now too." she said looking up at him starting to cry.

"Don't worry Ava, we won't let them get to you guys. We got your back." Mark said looking up at them.

"Mark, you don't understand. This was the only place I was Ava Davis. I wasn't Avalon. I was just Roger's wife and I liked having someplace where I could just be me, you know? I didn't have to be anything else and now they're gonna be everywhere." she cried as Roger took her into his arms.

"Baby, it's OK. Everything's gonna be OK. We'll think of something." he said looking over at her.

"What Roger? What are we gonna do? Now we're gonna be prisoners here now." she yelled looking up at him.

"We'll go to Hicksville. No one'll find us there." he said looking over at her.

"And what are we gonna do? Hide out in the house alone? That's not the answer." she said looking over at him.

"We'll take everyone with us. We can spend time with my parents and just be us." he said running his fingers through his hair.

"They're gonna find us. They always do. They found us here." she said wiping her eyes as he stood over her.

"It's OK Baby. Listen, we'll spend a couple of weeks in Hicksville and by the time we come home, all of this will blow over. I promise. They'll get bored when they see we're not here anymore and move on. Everything's gonna be OK Ava." he smiled taking her face in his hands.

"OK, we'll go to Hicksville, but when we get back, we have to look for a place around here." she said looking up at him.

"What do you mean find a place around here? You have a place around here? Here." Mark said looking over confused.

"Mark, we can't stay here indefinitely. It's not fair to turn everyone's lives upside down. Especially if reporters, photographers and fans are gonna be stalking the building." she said looking over at him as Roger wrapped his arms around her.

"But at least you have people here with you. It won't be so bad once we get back from Hicksville. Don't worry. We want you guys here. This is your home." he said looking up at them.

"Mark, it's just not right that you guys have to suffer for me and Roger. You see what our lives are like now. We can't go anywhere without it appearing on the front cover of every news paper and magazine. I wouldn't be surprised if they're stalking the Life Cafe right now." she said looking up at Roger.

"So we'll call everyone and have them pack for Hicksville and then we can get away. By the time we get back they will have moved on. I just don't want you guys to feel you have to move out. I like having you guys here." he said sitting on the couch.

"Are you sure Mark? You have no idea what you're getting yourself into." she smiled looking over at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want you guys to move out. If you do, they win." he said looking over at them.

"OK, but we're gonna have to do some renovating around here. I'm not gonna live in this dump." she laughed looking up at Roger.

"Deal." Roger laughed kissing her head.

"Good thing we didn't get a chance to unpack yet, huh?" she said looking over at Mark.

"I'm gonna call everyone. Why don't you guys get ready, OK? This is gonna be great." Mark called out excitedly rushing to the phone.

"We have a little time." Roger whispered leaning down to her kiss her ear.

"We do, don't we?" she giggled looking up at him as he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

* * *

"You guys grew up here? It looks just like Scarsdale." Mark said looking around as they parked in front of Ava's house.

"Where did you think we grew up Mark?" Roger asked as they got out of the car.

"I don't know, I just wasn't expecting this." he said looking up at the house.

"We weren't raised by wolves Mark." Ava laughed as she opened the door to the house.

"This place is really nice." Collins smiled as they entered the house.

"Thanks." she said looking up at him. "My mom and I moved here when we left Cleveland. Roger and my mom decorated my room when I was on tour with my dad. Before I left it looked like a 7 year olds bedroom." she laughed looking up at Roger.

"Does it still look like it did when I left?" Roger asked looking over at her.

"Go see for yourself." she smiled putting her bags down as he rushed up the stairs. It looked exactly like it did the last time he saw it. The pictures of the band and the two of them and everything. "So what do you think?" she asked looking up at him.

"I can't believe you kept it exacty the same." he said looking over at her.

"Well you did it for me. I couldn't change it." she smiled wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I think this should be our little girls room." he smiled pulling her closer to him.

"Our little girl?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I want to raise our kids here Ava. This is where it all started with us. It's the place I was the happiest." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.

"Me too Baby." she smiled burying her face into his chest as they looked around the room.

"Knock, knock. Are you guys OK?" Mark asked coming up behind them.

"Yeah, we're great." Ava smiled looking back at him.

"So this was your room when you were a teenager, huh? Nice posters." he laughed looking around.

"Hey Mark, do you wanna see our old band." Ava smiled looking up at him.

"I'd love to." he smiled as she went across the room to get a picture off the wall for him.

"Roger put these up for me the summer I was gone. That's me and Roger, and there's June, Jimmy and that's Will." she smiled pointing to each of the band members. Roger looked down at the picture before looking away. "Are you OK Roger?" she asked looking up at him.

"I haven't seen Will in years. I mean, a lot of years." he said looking down at her.

"You guys used to be really close." she said said quietly looking up at him.

"Yeah, until he made a move on my girl." he said walking away from her.

"Roger, that was a long time ago. You forgave me, now it's time to forgive him." she said looking over at him.

"I don't know if I can. It's been almost 11 years since I've seen him. I'm sure if he wanted to see me, he would have called by now. Especially since he's probably seen our pictures in the papers and magazines." he said looking over at her.

"Maybe he's afraid you're still mad at him after all this time. Roger's he's your cousin and he used to be one of your best friends. Call him. Please." she said walking over to him.

"I don't know." he said wrapping his arms around her to bring her close.

"Roger, Ava we have company." Collins shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

"I wonder who that could be. No one knows we're here." Ava said looking up at Roger who simply smiled back.

"We better go see." he smiled looking down at her as they left the room.

"Mom, dad. I'm so glad you're here. But how did you know?" she called out seeing Mr. And Mrs. Davis standing in the foyer.

"My son called and said him and his girl were coming home." Mr. Davis smiled hugging her tight.

"Oh he did, huh? That husband of mine." she smiled looking up at Roger as he stood on the stairs smiling at them.

"I knew you missed them." he smiled looking down at her.

"And we missed you sweetie. You two look so good. Have you been making sure Roger takes his medicine?" Mrs. Davis asked looking down at her.

"Of course. I lost him once, I don't want to lose him ever again. Not for a very very long time." she smiled looking up at him as she hugged her mother in law.

"That's my girl." Mr. Davis smiled as Roger came down to hug him.

"It's great to see you dad. We missed you." he smiled hugging his father.

"We missed you too son. Seeing you on Leno just wasn't the same as this." he smiled hugging him tight.

"I know what you mean dad." Roger smiled as everyone said their hellos.

"I was thinking of making everyone dinner here tonight. Maybe barbeque?" Ava smiled looking over at everyone.

"Yeah, we can have a party." Roger suggested smiling at her.

"That's a great idea Baby. It can be just us." Ava smiled as everyone watched them happily.

"So are you kids thinking of staying here for a while?" Mrs. Davis asked looking down at Ava.

"We really haven't talked about it. We're gonna be here for a little while anyway." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Maybe longer." he smiled putting his arms around her.

"How much longer?" Mark asked looking over at him.

"We don't know Mark. We wanna raise our family here." Roger said as everyone looked over at them.

"We're not pregnant yet, but we do want to have kids." Ava smiled looking over at them.

"But how? I mean, Roger's HIV." Mrs. Davis asked looking over at her worried.

"We need to be careful, but we can do it. We want to have kids. We always did, but it's gonna be a little more complicated than we anticipated." Ava said looking over at her.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you Ava." Mrs. Davis said walking over to her.

"I know mom, and I don't want anything to happen to Ava either. We'll be careful. I promise." Roger smiled looking down at her.

"OK sweetie." she smiled reaching up to caress his cheek.


	15. Chapter 15

"Good morning Collins. Is there any coffee?" Ava asked as she entered the kitchen where Collins was reading the news paper. Roger was still asleep and he looked so peaceful, she didn't want to wake him.

"Yeah Babygirl. I just made a fresh pot." he smiled looking over at her.

"Whatcha got there?" she asked pouring herself some coffee.

"Sports section." he smiled showing her the section he was reading.

"Sports section? You?" she laughed before drinking her coffee black.

"What? You think just because I'm gay, I can't like sports?" he asked laughing.

"You read the rest of it and you were bored, huh?" she laughed joining him at the table.

"Pretty much. Are you hungry? I'll make you something." he laughed putting the paper down.

"Maybe in a little while. So, how do you like it here?" she asked putting her coffee mug down.

"I like it a lot. It's not as crazy as the city. And I've never seen Roger so happy." he smiled looking over at her.

"Do you think Roger likes being back here? I mean, really?" she asked looking over at him.

"Babygirl, you know the only reason why he left here was so he didn't wouldn't have to watch you hurt yourself. He loves it here. He wants to raise your family here." he smiled crossing his legs.

"Yeah but, how realistic is that. I mean, he's HIV positive. Do you really think we're gonna be able to have a family?" she asked leaning her elbows on the table.

"Why not? Modern medicine has a lot to offer people like you." he smiled reaching out for her hand.

"People like who?" she asked confused.

"Two people who are so desperately in love with each other that you're willing to do anything to be together. Including give up your privacy." he smiled looking into her bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, he did give all that up for me, didn't he?" she asked looking up at him.

"That boy loves you so much. Probably more now than he did when you were teenagers. Trust me Ava, you guys are meant to have a family. A little girl as beautiful and talented as you and a little boy who'll grow up to be a good man like his father. I would be honored to watch those kids grow up." he smiled looking over at her.

"But what about our music? I mean, I worked really hard to get where I am, but I've been here a while. I'm sick of not being able to have my own life. I just want to be able to go into a grocery store for tampons or hair dye and not have it splashed on the front page of every supermaket rag the next day. I'm ready to call it quits, but it's Roger. He's the reason I've been able to get as far as I have. It was his dream for us, so I figured if he couldn't live it, I would and now that he's living it too, I don't want to take that away from him. He deserves it, you know? He always did." she said as tears stung her eyes.

"You know, if you tell him you want to give it all up right now, he would stand by you. He loves you that much." he said reaching over to caress her face.

"Yeah, but is it being selfish to want to have my own life again? Or to have Roger all to myself again?" she asked looking up at him.

"I don't think so. You're husband and wife. There's nothing wrong with that at all." he smiled looking over at her.

"Thank you Collins. Now I see why you're the big brother.." she smiled getting up to hug him.

"Babygirl I'm your big brother too. And I meant what I said. I would be honored to see you raise those babies with Roger." he smiled kissing her head.

"We would be honored to have you in our childrens lives." she smiled sitting back down in her chair.

"I love you." she smiled looking over at him.

"I love you too Ava." he smiled caressing her hand.

"Feel like having a little breakfast now?" he asked smiling at her.

"Yeah, I would really like that." she smiled as he got up and started making breakfast.

* * *

"Roger, I'm late." Ava said looking over at Roger as he sat on the bed with the guitar on his lap. 

"What are you late for Baby?" he asked with the pencil clenched between his teeth looking down at a notebook.

"Roger, look at me." Ava said looking over at him. "I'm late, late." she said moving closer to him.

"Late as in..." he started as he began staring at her belly.

"Um... yeah." she smiled looking down at him.

"Are you...?" he asked putting the guitar down on the bed.

"I don't know. I haven't taken the test yet. I'm sort of scared to." she said as he put his hands around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Baby, we've been wanting this. Why are you scared to?" he asked looking up at her.

"Because we haven't tried the invitro yet and I'm scared that if I am pregnant, you'll think that I'm positive and you'll blame yourself." she said looking down at him running her fingers through his hair.

"Ava, it's possible for you to be pregnant and not be positive. And if you are, we'll deal with it. I promise. Everything's gonna be OK." he said bringing her onto his lap.

"Are you sure? Because if I am positive the last thing I want is for you to blame yourself. I'm a big girl, I know the risks and I'm here anyway." she said looking over at him.

"Ava, take the test first and then we'll deal with everything else, OK?" he smiled leaning up to kiss her.

"OK, I'll take the test." she smiled caressing his face. "I love you Roger." she smiled kissing him again.

"I love you too Ava." he smiled as she got off of his lap and went into the bathroom. She pee'd on the stick and put it on the counter.

"It's done. Now we have to wait a couple of minutes for the test results." she said looking up at him.

"Are you nervous?" he asked as she sat on the bed next to him.

"A little. Are you?" she asked as he put his arms around her.

"Nope. I want this so badly Ava." he smiled pulling her closer to him.

"What about our career?" she asked looking up at him.

"We'll ditch it. I can get a job with my dad, and you can do whatever it is you want to do. I wanna be here to raise our family with you Ava. Nothing else matters." he smiled as she leaned up to kiss him.

"You mean it? I mean, really mean it? You wouldn't care if we just ditched everything and stayed here to raise our kids?" she asked looking over at him.

"Care? Ava, all I care about is you and our family. Yeah going on tour was fun and all the attention and the fans were unreal, but my life is you. I wanna be here with you raising our kids." he smiled as tears filled Ava's eyes.

"You're serious, aren't you?" she asked quietly looking into his green eyes.

"I've never been more serious Ava." he smiled looking over at her.

"OK then. We'll ditch our career and raise our family here." she smiled hugging him tightly around his neck.

"Ava, finding you again was my second chance. I swore to myself for a lot of years that if I ever had another chance with you, I'd do whatever it takes not to lose you again. Right here is where I wanna be Ava." he whispered kissing her again. "Is it time yet?" he asked looking over at her.

"Um, yeah. I think it's time." she smiled as tears of happiness streamed down her face. As they got up and made their way to the bathroom, Ava held Roger's hand tightly. She looked down before picking up the test stick. "It's positive Roger." she smiled turning around to face him.

"We're gonna have...?" he asked looking down at the test stick.

"Yep. We're gonna have a baby." she smiled as he wrapped his arms around her holding her close.

"I love you Ava." he told her barely being able to speak over his tears of joy.

"I love you too Roger." she laughed crying again.

"We have to tell everyone." he smiled down at her wiping his eyes.

"How?" she asked smiling up at him.

"We'll invite everyone over and tell them over dinner." he smiled caressing her face.

"And what about Josh? We have to tell him we quit." she said looking up at him.

"How about we tell all of our friends and family first and then worry about Josh." he said leaning down to kiss her.

"OK. How do you think everyone's gonna react?" she asked holding his biceps.

"Josh is gonna hate it, but he'll live. It's our life. And I know our friends and family are gonna love it." he smiled looking down at her.

"Who cares what Josh likes? All I care about is my family." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"We're gonna be parents." he smiled reaching down to caress her flat belly.

"Yeah we are." she smiled touching his hand.

A/N: Josh is their manager.


	16. Chapter 16

"Are you ready Baby?" Roger whispered as he stood in front of the barbeque.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Ava smiled taking the plate of meat from him and bringing it to the table they had set up in the back yard.

"This looks really good Roger." Mark smiled taking a piece of steak off of the plate Ava just put down.

"Yeah, this has been the best summer vacation ever. It's gonna be a shame when we have to go back home." Joanne smiled scooping salad onto her plate.

"We're not going back guys." Roger smiled looking over at them as he joined them at the table.

"What do you mean you're not going back?" Mrs. Davis asked looking up at him.

"Ava and I are quitting the band and we're staying here." he said wrapping his arms around Ava's waist.

"Oh my God." Collins smiled looking up at them.

"What?" Maureen asked looking over at them.

"Oh my God." Mr. Davis smiled looking up at them.

"Will someone please tell us what's going on?" Joanne asked looking up at everyone.

"They're pregnant." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at her.

"They're what? Oh my God. That's great." Mark smiled looking up at them.

"How far along are you?" Mr. Davis smiled looking up at them.

"We don't know. We just found out this morning." Ava smiled as everyone got up to congratulate them.

"This is so great. I am so happy for you." Mrs. Davis smiled hugging them.

"Thanks mom." Ava smiled hugging her back.

"So you two are quitting the business, huh?" Collins smiled looking down at them.

"Yeah, we wanna raise our child here. I want to get a job here so I can be home with my family everyday, like my dad was there for me." he smiled looking over at Mr. Davis.

"Are you sure that's what you want? You've wanted this for a very long time Roger." Mr. Davis said looking up at Roger.

"I've been wanting this for a long time too dad. My place is with my family." he smiled looking over at him.

"Well, I guess Roger Davis is a family man now." Mark smiled looking up at them.

"Yeah I am." he smiled kissing Ava's head.

"This deserves a celebration of epic proportions." Maureen laughed as tears fell from her eyes.

"Everything deserves a celebration of epic proportions to you." Ava laughed looking over at her.

"Well this does. You and Roger are having a baby." she smiled looking over at them.

"I agree Baby. I think we need to have a huge celebration." Roger smiled holding her in his arms.

"What kind of celebration?" she asked cautiously looking up at him.

"A really big one." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Don't worry sweetie, we can have it at our house. The girls and I will take care of everything." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at Maureen and Joanne.

"This is gonna be so much fun." Maureen squealed in excitement.

"I think we're in trouble." Ava laughed looking up at Roger.

"Um yeah, I think that's a safe bet." Roger laughed holding her tight.

"Let's eat." Collins smiled looking over at everyone.

"Good idea. I'm starving. I'm eating for two now." Ava laughed sitting down at the table.

* * *

"Good morning Mrs. Davis. How do you feel this morning?" the doctor smiled looking over at them.

"I'm good." she smiled looking over at Roger.

"I see here that you're pregnant. Congratulations." he smiled as he looked down at the chart.

"Yeah, we just found out the other day." she smiled as Roger reached over for her hand.

"Let's see how far along you are." he smiled wheeling the ultra sound machine towards them.

"I'm HIV positive, so she's gonna need an HIV test." Roger said as Ava laid down on the examining table.

"Don't worry Mr. Davis. We'll do all the necessary tests and keep an eye on things." he smiled as he put gel on Ava's belly. "I hear a strong heartbeat." he smiled looking over at them as they concentrated on the screen.

"It sounds weird. Is that normal?" Roger asked looking up at the doctor who looked confused as he looked at the screen.

"It looks like we have two heartbeats here." he smiled looking down at them.

"Two? We're having...?" Roger started with tears filling his eyes before looking over at Ava who was looking at the screen.

"Twins?" she said as tears rolled down from her eyes.

"Looks like. See, that's one baby and there's the other." the doctor smiled looking down at them.

"How far along?" Roger asked wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Judging by the size, I'd say 7 weeks." the doctor smiled looking over at them.

"7 weeks? Oh my God Roger." she smiled looking over at him.

"I heard Ava." he smiled leaning in to kiss her as they looked up at the screen.

"I love you Roger." she smiled reaching over to caress his face.

"I love you too Baby." he smiled playing with her hair.

* * *

"Twins. I can't believe it." she smiled looking up at Roger.

"Are you OK Baby?" Roger asked looking down at Ava as they left the doctors office and walked to the car.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... twins." she laughed looking up at him.

"We're gonna have twins Baby. This is the greatest news." he said sweeping her into his arms.

"You do realize that we're in for the biggest party this planet has ever seen." she laughed looking into his eyes.

"Knowing Maureen and my mom, yeah. We're really in for it." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Good." she smiled caressing his face.

"When do we have to meet with Josh?" he asked looking down at her.

"At 3. I don't want to tell him about the twins yet. I think we should tell our family first." she smiled looking up at him.

"Good idea Baby." he smiled kissing her again before opening the car door for her.

"You do realize that he's gonna want us to have a press conference releasing news about the baby, right?" she said as he got in the car.

"Yeah, I know. I figured that." he smiled taking her hand.

"And that's when we're gonna tell them that we're done with the band." she said as he started the car.

"What about Jimmy and June?" he asked looking over at her.

"I told them last night when you and the guys were playing cards. They're fine with it. They said they've been wanting to quit for a while, but didn't want to abandon me." she said looking over at him.

"I hope them wanting to quit has nothing to do with me." he said as they sat in the parking lot.

"In a way. They said they stuck with me so long because they were taking care of me for you. They didn't want anything to happen to me." she smiled looking over at him.

"My best friends, huh?" he smiled kissing her hand.

"Yeah, mine too." she laughed before they began to drive home.

* * *

"You're having a baby? This is great Avalon, but what about the band? What about Jimmy and June?" he asked sitting up in his chair.

"I spoke to them last night and they're happy for us. They're ready to move on. Jimmy wants to produce and June just wants to relax for a while as he decides what he wants to do next." Ava said taking Roger's hand.

"And what about the new album? You were supposed to start work on it next month. You two have that new song. People are expecting it." he asked looking over at them.

"We're done Josh. We want to settle in Hicksville and raise our family." Ava smiled looking over at Roger.

"You know, I don't like this Avalon. You blindsided me when you hired Roger, but luckily he worked out and then I had to hear that you married him on Leno and now you're quitting, just like that. No warning, no nothing." he said getting up from his chair.

"You know, I'm right here." Roger said looking over at him.

"I know Roger, I'm not saying that this was not a good move for Avalon, but..." he started when Ava interrupted him.

"AVA. My name is Ava. I am so sick of the name Avalon. I hated it when I was a kid and right now, I'm hating it more now." she yelled standing up for her chair.

"Ava, the baby." Roger said reaching out for her hand.

"If you're sick of Avalon, why the hell did you use it as your stage name?" he asked looking down at her.

"Because Roger suggested it when we were teenagers and I just thought it would be a good idea. But I am so sick of it now." she said looking up at him.

"How can you let all of this go after all the work you've done to get here?" he asked looking over at her.

"Josh, I'm just ready to let it go. I want my life back. I'm so sick of worrying about every move I make being on the front cover of every news paper and tabloid. Roger and I are married and we're having a child that we want to raise outside of the public eye. We're living in Hicksville and giving our children a normal life." she said looking up at him.

"You do realize that the two of you should hold a press conference announcing that you will not be continuing your career?" he said looking down at her.

"Yes we do. Whatever we have to do, but we want our private lives back. I don't want our family to be plagued by reporters for the rest of our lives." she said looking down at Roger.

"I can't stop you, can I?" Josh asked looking over at Ava.

"No, you can't. It's done. We want to raise our children in Hicksville and just be a normal married couple." she said sitting next to Roger.

"You're gonna be a soccer mom?" Josh asked sitting on the edge of his desk smiling down at her.

"Yeah, I am. And Roger's gonna coach little league. It's what we've always wanted." she smiled looking over at Roger.

"Well then congratulations. I'm happy for you." he smiled looking down at them as they held one anothers hands tight.


	17. Chapter 17

"Twins? Where did they come from?" Mr. Davis smiled looking over at them.

"My dad's a twin." Ava laughed looking up at him.

"I can't believe we're gonna have twin grandbabies." Mrs. Davis shouted excitedly before jumping up to hug Roger and Ava.

"Twins. This is gonna be hard, isn't it?" Ava laughed looking up at Mrs. Davis.

"Not really. You're not gonna be alone. You'll have more help than you know what to do with." she laughed looking down at her.

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." she laughed looking up at her and then over at Maureen and Joanne.

"Wrong direction Baby." Roger laughed pointing over to Mark and Collins.

"Yeah, Maureen and Joanne don't do babies. It's me and Marky you're gonna have to worry about." Collins laughed as Mark nodded in agreement.

"Oh boy. You are gonna corrupt my kids, aren't you?" Ava asked looking over at Collins.

"Um, yeah pretty much Babygirl. Sorry, but it's what I was put on this earth to do." he laughed drinking his stoli.

"That's OK. I'm not complaining." Ava smiled drinking her iced tea.

"So have you two thought of any names yet?" Mr. Davis asked smiling at them.

"Dad, we just found out. We haven't had time." Roger laughed looking over at him.

"Good point." Mr. Davis laughed looking up at him.

"To Roger and Ava and the boho babies." Collins smiled holding up his glass.

"Boho babies, huh?" Ava asked smiling at him.

"Well we're not exactly dirt broke or hungry or freezing, but we're unemployed so we're bohos again." Roger laughed looking over at her.

"No we're not dirt broke. Actually we're far from it." she smiled looking over at him.

"What does that mean? Far from it?" Roger asked looking over at her.

"Um Roger, I'm worth about 20 million dollars." she smiled looking up at him.

"20 million? From what?" he asked looking down at her.

"Well album sales, videos, tours, investments. I've done pretty good." she smiled looking up at him.

"Pretty good? Babygirl, you're loaded." Collins smiled looking over at her.

"Well, we can live comfortably." she smiled looking over at him as Roger stared down at her.

"20 million dollars?" he asked looking down at her.

"Roger, are you OK?" she asked laughing.

"Um, yeah I think so." he said looking down at her.

"I can't believe you didn't know." she said looking up at him.

"How did he not know?" Mark asked looking over at them.

"It never came up. All we cared about was being together." Ava smiled looking up at him. "Baby, are you gonna be OK?" she asked putting her arm around him.

"You have 20 million dollars?" he aksed looking down at her.

"We have 20 million dollars, yeah." she smiled caressing his back.

"How do we have 20 million dollars? You made the money." he said looking down at her.

"No prenup. 10 of it is yours." she smiled looking up at him.

"I don't know how I feel about that Ava. I mean, you made the money, I didn't." he said looking over at her.

"Roger, I love you. This is as much your money as it is mine. You're the one who gave me my first band. You're the one who gave me my confidence. You're the one who taught me how to write songs. Call it residuals." she said looking up at him.

"Rog, face it man. You're rich and famous." Collins smiled looking over at him.

"Holy..." he started before Ava leaned up to kiss him.

"Exactly." she whispered caressing his face.

* * *

"So you're loaded, huh?" Mark asked looking up at Roger.

"No, Ava is." Roger said looking over at him.

"You heard her Roger, it's your money too." Mark said fiddling with his camera.

"Yeah well, I can't keep it. I've been famous less than a damn year. She's been doing this shit for a lot longer." he said looking over at him.

"Roger, why are you being like this? Ava said it's your money too. You're her husband." he said as Roger got up from the couch.

"Yeah, but it's not my money. I can't let my wife support me Mark. It's not how I was raised." he said pacing around the living room.

"Roger, I'm not trying to take your manhood away. I just don't want you to have to worry about anything. I want you to be able to enjoy what we have. Our marriage, our children, our life together. All I want is you." Ava smiled standing on the stairs.

"Ava, all I want is you too. I don't want your money. I just want to live the rest of my life with you and our babies." he said going up the steps to her.

"And I want you to have more time with me and our babies, so what do we do?" she said as tears stung her eyes.

"I guess we go to the doctor and get the best treatment and meds money can buy." he smiled looking up at her.

"So that's what we'll do. Money doesn't have to change anything. All it changes is that we don't have to worry about being hungry and frozen." she laughed looking down at him.

"And I'm pretty sure we're not gonna be using candles because our power went out." he laughed wrapping his arms around her waist.

"We can use some of the money to move our family closer to us. Heaven knows I'll need the help between raising you and a set of twins." she laughed as he carried her down to the stairs.

"No way Baby. I'm gonna be the best dad these kids could ever have." he smiled leaning up to kiss her.

"I know you will Roger. I have no doubt in my mind." she smiled as Mark looked on happily.


	18. Chapter 18

"Roger, would you stop staring at the phone and call him please? You're making me nuts." Ava said looking up at Roger as she passed him in the living room as he stood over the phone.

"I will. It's just... I haven't seen or spoken to Will since... well a long time." he said looking down at her wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I know Baby, but you need to call him. I don't want these babies not to know Will." she said looking up at him.

"I know Ava. I'm calling him. I just need to figure out what I want to say to him." he said leaning down to kiss her head.

"Just call him and say hi. Knowing you and Will the rest will come to you. It'll be like old times before you know it." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Thanks Baby. I love you." he smiled caressing her face.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled looking into his green eyes before patting his chest and walking away. He picked up the phone and began to dial. His father had gotten him Will's new phone number. He stood next to the phone.

"Hey Will, it's Roger." Roger said looking over at Ava as she shuffled through some papers on the coffee table.

"Roger, I haven't talked to you in... a long time. How are you? I saw you and Ava got married. Congratulations." he smiled sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks. We're also expecting twins in the spring." Roger smiled as Ava looked up at him.

"Wow, that's great Roger. I'm really happy for you two. You always did belong together. Listen, um... can I see you guys? I really miss you." he said looking around his living room.

"Yeah, we'd like that. Why don't you come by the house? We can have a barbeque. We can get everyone together for one last hurrah before the weather gets too cold." he suggested as Ava smiled wider.

"I'd really like that. There's something I want to tell you guys anyway. Where do you guys live?" he asked sitting on the couch.

"We live at Ava's old house. She bought it when her mom moved to Florida and we moved in a couple of months ago. We want to raise our babies here." he said looking over at Ava.

"Well good for you guys. There's no better place to raise kids. I'll see you guys on Saturday." he smiled looking down at his feet.

"OK, we'll see you Saturday. Bye Will." he said smiling before hanging up the phone.

"See, I told you. How'd it go?" she smiled looking over at him.

"Good. He's coming for a barbeque on Saturday. He said he has something he wants to tell us." he said looking over at her.

"I wonder what it is?" she said looking up at him as she sat on the couch.

"I don't know." he smiled sitting next to her wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.

"I wanna call Jimmy and June and have them join us. I think it'll be nice to have everyone here." she smiled looking up at him.

"I think that's an excellent idea Baby." he smiled reaching down to caress her very small belly

"OK, I'm gonna go over to Mark and Collins place and make sure they're gonna be around." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

"Why don't you just call them?" he asked looking over at her.

"Because I want to go over and see them." she smiled looking up at him as she got off of the couch.

"OK Baby. I'm gonna go over to my dad's. I need to ask him something." he smiled getting up taking her hands.

"OK, do you wanna walk with me?" she asked smiling at him.

"I would love to Baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss her before they left the house.

* * *

"Roger, what are you doing here? Where's Ava?" Mrs. Davis asked looking up at Roger entered the house.

"She's over torturing Mark and Collins. Is dad around?" he asked looking up at her.

"Um, yeah sweetie. Is everything OK?" she asked looking over at him.

"Yeah mom. Everything's great. Oh, Will's coming for a barbeque on Saturday." he said smiling over at her.

"You finally called him? Good for you sweetie. You two used to be so close. I hated seeing you two not talk all these years." she smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah, Ava's been torturing me since we moved back home to call him and forgive him." he said looking over at her.

"Roger, that thing he did with Ava was so long ago. You should have forgiven him sooner." she said looking over at him.

"Mom, he kissed Ava. He was my cousin and one of my best friends. He knew how I felt about her but he made a move on her anyway. That hurt me mom and it hurt Ava too. I just needed some time to think about it and wrap my head around it. But I'm fine now and I'm ready to move on. I mean, me and Ava are back together and we're married with twin babies on the way. It was time to let it go." he said looking over at her.

"I understand. Your father is in the kitchen." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thanks mom." he smiled walking towards the kitchen. "Hey dad." he smiled looking down at his father who was reading the paper.

"Hey Roger. Where's the little Mrs?" he asked smiling up at him.

"Torturing Mark and Collins. I wanted to talk to you about something." he said looking down at him.

"What's up?" Mr. Davis asked putting the newspaper down.

"I spoke to Will. He's coming for a barbeque on Saturday." Roger said sitting at the table.

"How do you feel about that?" he asked looking over at him.

"Dad, it's been a long time. I'm fine." he said looking over at him.

"Does he know about you and Ava?" he asked looking up at him.

"Dad, it would be pretty hard for him to miss it. It's been in the papers for almost a year." he said looking over at him smiling.

"Good point. Did you tell him about the babies?" he asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I did. He said he's happy for us and he has something he wants to tell us too." he said looking over at him.

"So what's the matter?" he asked looking over at him.

"Dad, how did you know you were ready to be a dad?" he asked looking over at him.

"When you were 8 and I stopped drinking. Your mother told me if I didn't stop drinking, she would throw me out and I would never see you or her again. That's when I knew I had to grow up." he answered looking over at him.

"I don't remember that." Roger said looking over at him.

"You were only 8 Roger. You wouldn't remember that." Mr. Davis smiled looking over at him.

"I'm afraid that I'm gonna screw up with these babies. I don't want to mess up their lives." he said looking down at the table.

"Roger you're already a grown up. You've screwed up in your life, but look at you. You're clean, you're an incredible husband to Ava and you're gonna be the greatest father to these babies." Mr. Davis smiled taking his sons hand.

"That's what they deserve, but I don't know if I can give it to them. I mean, I'm living off my wife, what kind of man does that?" he asked looking up at him.

"Roger, you're not living off of your wife. You're working, damn hard." he said looking over at him.

"But Ava's got so much more money than I could ever bring in working with you." he said all Ava cares about is you looking over at him.

"Roger, you know that doesn't matter to Ava and it's not gonna matter to these babies either. All their gonna know is that their father was there for them when they needed him to." he said looking over into his sons green eyes.

"And what about when I'm not there for them. For their first day of school, their first kiss, their first date? All the moments their gonna need me for." he said looking over at him.

"Roger, you're gonna be there for them as long as this disease allows you to be and you have no choice but to take what it gives you. Does it suck? You bet your ass it does, but you can't live your life trying to avoid the 800 pound gorilla." he said looking over at him.

"I need more time dad. I lost so much of it being an immature jerk and now I can't find enough of it." he said getting up to pace the living room.

"None of us are guaranteed time. Life is a crap shoot. What matters is what you do with the time you have. I'm sorry Ava and these babies are gonna lose you and Collins too soon, but they will know who you are." he said looking up at him.

"But I don't want my kids just to know who I am. I want them to have memories of me, like I have of you." he said looking down at him.

"Roger, you can't help how long or short you're here. All you can do is do what you can to be here as long as possible and make en impression while you're here." he said getting up out of the chair.

"But dad, I want my son to be able to bring his girl home to meet me like I brought Ava home to meet you." he said smiling down at him.

"I want that too Roger, but you can't live your life avoiding what eventually happens to everyone. We all die, it's what you do with the time you have. You and your friends taught me that." he smiled looking over at him.

"I know dad. Thanks." he said looking down at him.


	19. Chapter 19

"Hey Davis' and Davis', how you doing Mama?" Jimmy laughed leaning down to her little belly.

"I'm fine. A little morning sickness, but I'm actually really good." she laughed as he leaned up to hug him.

"I have never seen you so happy Ava. It's really good to see you so happy." he smiled looking over at Roger who was bringing the meet outside to the yard.

"I've never been so happy. I'm married to Roger, I'm carrying our twins and I'm out of the business. I'm finally Ava again. I'm the happiest I've ever been." she smiled looking over at him.

"I'm glad. I really am. You're heart wasn't into performing for a while. It's nice to see you happy like this." he smiled as the doorbell rang.

"Thanks Jimmy. For everything." she smiled before Roger rushed into the house.

"That's Will." he called out going over to Ava and Jimmy.

"OK Baby, calm down. You're gonna scare home right out of the neighborhood." she laughed looking up at him.

"I'm fine. I'm good. Can I answer the door now?" he asked looking down at her like a little kid as Ava and Jimmy laughed.

"Yes Roger, you can answer the door now." Ava laughed looking up at him as he reached out for the door.

"Roger, Ava. You guys look almost exactly as I remember you." Will smiled standing in the door way.

"Hi Will. It's really good to see you." Ava smiled leaning in to hug you.

"It's really good to see you too. And you two. Wow, when Roger said you were carrying twins, he was not kidding. Pretty soon these babies will be carrying you." he laughed looking down at Ava's belly.

"Yeah, they're making their presence pretty well known." Ava laughed looking up at Roger who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Hi Will." he smiled leaning over to hug him.

"It's great to see you again Roger. I missed you so much." he said patting his back.

"I missed you too Will." Roger smiled looking over at him.

"Will, you're here." Mrs. Davis called out rushing in from the back yard to hug her nephew.

"Hi Aunt Abby. Can you believe these two? 10 years couldn't couldn't keep them apart." he laughed looking over at them.

"Well, you know us." Ava laughed looking up at him.

"Come on, let's go in the yard. Everyone's here." Roger smiled looking down at everyone. As they went to the backyard, everyone made their introductions. Roger, Ava, Jimmy, June and Will caught up and told stories about when they were in high school and the bohemians laughed and had a great time. It felt like old times.

"So what is it you wanted to tell us Will?" Ava asked drinking her iced tea as they sat at the table on the deck.

"It can wait." he smiled looking over at them.

"So how long are you here Will?" Collins asked drinking his stoli.

"I don't know. I was gonna go back to Westchester tonight, but I really want to spend more time here. It's been a while since I've been back here." he smiled looking over at him.

"You can stay with us. Me and Mark share a house down the block. We have plenty of room." Collins smiled looking over at him.

"OK Thanks. I appreciate it." he smiled as Roger and Ava smiled at each other. "What are you two hoping for? Two boys, two girls, one of each?" he asked drinking his beer.

"Yep." Roger laughed holding Ava close to him.

"We don't mind, as long as they're healthy." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"Amen to that." he smiled lifting his beer bottle up as everyone joined in.

* * *

"It was so great to see Will again. I really missed him." Roger smiled as they got into bed.

"Yeah it was. Did you notice how him and Collins were looking at each other?" she smiled rubbing lotion into her hands.

"Do you think that's what he wants to tell us?" Roger asked slipping his arms around her and holding her close to him.

"Maybe." she smiled looking up at him.

"Then maybe him and Collins will start dating and he'll be living around here again." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

"Maybe." she smiled before laying back on his chest as they fell asleep. Ava was the first to wake up the next morning. She looked up at Roger and he looked so peaceful. She loved watching him sleep. She went downstairs to start making breakfast. When she entered the kitchen Ms. Parker was standing at the stove. "Um... mom?" she called out looking over at her.

"Hi honey. You look so beautiful." she smiled rushing out from behind the counter to hug her.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" she asked looking over at her.

"I wanted to see my girl." she smiled looking over at her.

"But what about work?" she asked smiled at her.

"I took a couple of weeks off. I wanted to spend some time with you and Roger. You're showing already. Oh my goodness. Look at you." she gushed looking up at her.

"Yeah, they're here." she smiled caressing her little belly.

"You look amazing Ava. You and Roger must be so happy." she smiled looking up at her.

"We are. We can't believe we're having twins." she smiled looking over at her.

"Well, your dad's a twin, so there was always a chance." she smiled looking over at her.

"I'll just be happy if they're healthy." she said looking over at her.

"Don't worry sweetie, they will be. Roger would never let anything happen to you or these babies. You're negative now and he's gonna make sure you stay that way. I trust Roger." she smiled looking over at her.

"Me too mom." she smiled as Ms. Parker went back around to the stove.

"Now, why don't you get your husband up so we can have breakfast together." she smiled as she continued making the pancakes.

"OK." she smiled before turning around and going back upstairs.


	20. Chapter 20

"Collins honey, are you here?" Ava called out as she entered the house.

"I'm coming Babygirl. Hang on." he yelled out from the bedroom.

"She can't know I'm in here. I haven't told her and Roger yet." Will said looking over at Collins.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Collins said kissing him before getting out of the bed and putting his robe on.

"Sweetie, where are you? I need to talk to you about something." she yelled wandering around the house.

"Hey Babygirl, sorry. I'm getting a late start today. What's the matter?" he asked looking over at her.

"Where's Will?" she asked looking around.

"He's out. What do you need to talk to me about?" he asked walking into the kitchen for some coffee.

"I know what's going on, you know? You two don't have to hide it from me." she smiled following him.

"Who? What are you talking about?" he asked avoiding eye contact with her.

"Thomas Byron Collins, don't you play dumb with me. It doesn't become you. William Davis get out here right now." she yelled smiling at Collins. When he didn't come out, she yelled again. "William Steven Davis, don't make me go in there and drag you out of that bed. It'll only be embarrassing to you, believe me." she smiled as Will came up behind her.

"Hey Ava. How did you know?" he asked standing behind her wearing his robe.

"Just a hunch. How long has this been going on?" she asked turning around smiling.

"A couple of weeks. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. I wanted to, but I didn't know how." he said looking over at her.

"Will, you have no reason to be sorry. This is great. We're so happy for you two." she smiled rushing over to hug him.

"Roger knows?" he asked looking down at her.

"He may be pretty and blond, but he's not stupid either. I think everybody knows." she smiled looking up at him.

"How?" he asked looking over at Collins.

"You two look at each other the way Roger and I do. Men are worse than women when it comes to keeping secrets." she laughed looking up at him.

"OK, so the cat's out of the bag." Collins smiled looking over at them.

"Will, are you...?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, Ava. I'm positive. I found out a couple of years ago." he said looking down at her.

"I'm so sorry sweetie." she said looking over at him.

"I'm OK Ava. I'm on good meds." he said looking down at her.

"Roger's positive too." she said looking up at him.

"He is? How?" he asked as tears entered his eyes.

"Heroin. It was before we got back together. He's clean now. But I'm not. We take precautions." she said looking up at him.

"Is he OK?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's on some good meds too. His viral load is undetectable and his t-cells are still really high." she smiled reaching up to wipe the tear that had escaped his eye.

"Ava, do you think you can... tell Roger? I don't think I can tell him myself." he asked looking down at her.

"OK sweetie. If that's what you want, but I want you to know, as long as you're happy, we're happy for you." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thanks Ava. I appreciate that." he smiled leanind down to hug her again.

"Anything for you sweetie. If you need anything, you tell me and Roger. We'll take care of you. You're our family." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thanks Ava. I still love you, you know? You're one of the best friends I ever had." he smiled caressing her face.

"I love you too sweetie." she smiled hugging him again as Collins smiled at them.

"Does anyone want me to make them breakfast?" he asked looking over at them.

"I would love that sweetie. I'm starving." she smiled sitting on one of the stools at the breakfast counter.

"You're always starving." Will laughed sitting next to her.

"Yeah well, I'm eating for 3." she smiled looking up at him.

"Leave her alone honey. Those babies need their nourishment. And so does their mama." Will smiled before winking at Collins.

"You two are gonna be sickening, aren't you?" she laughed looking over at them.

"No more than you and Roger are." Collins laughed looking over at her.

"Well, you weren't there the first time around. They were worse. It was almost like none of us ever existed." Will laughed looking over at Collins.

"You mean you guys were there?" Ava laughed looking up at Will.

"Yeah, you wouldn't have thought so back then." he smiled as Collins brought him coffee and Will leaned up to kiss him.

"You two are so cute." she smiled looking up at them.

* * *

"Will and Collins are...?" Roger asked looking down at Ava as she sat on the couch.

"Roger, you've been suspecting for weeks now. Why are you so surprised now?" she asked smiling up at him.

"I know I've been suspecting for weeks, but it's one thing to know for sure." he said looking over at her.

"Are you OK Baby?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just weird. I mean, Will was in love with you all those years ago and now he's in love with one of my best friends. Um.. he is in love with him, right?" he asked looking over at her as he sat down.

"I think so Baby." she smiled looking up at him.

"Oh good. The last thing I want is for either one of them to get hurt." he said looking over at her.

"So, you're OK?" she asked looking over at him.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Is he OK? I mean, is he...?" he asked looking over at her.

"He's fine Roger. Yes, he's positive, but he said he's on good meds and we'll make sure he's on the best. Everything's gonna be OK." she said looking up at him.

"Oh man. He doesn't friggin deserve this." he said running his finger through his hair as he began pacing around the living room.

"Oh, and you and Collins do, huh?" she yelled getting up off the couch.

"Ava, calm down. The babies." he said going over to her.

"Roger, you, Collins and Will do not deserve this damn disease, but you have it. There's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is make sure you guys have the best treatment we can afford and hope it's enough." she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Ava, everything's gonna be OK. Don't worry about it." he smiled reaching out to hold her in his arms.

"I'm sorry Roger. I just don't like to talk about this. I'm very hormonal right now and I just blow things out of proportion." she said looking up at him.

"It's OK Baby. I know." he said kissing her head as he held her close to him.


	21. Chapter 21

"Oh man, these babies are killing my back." Ava complained trying to roll out of bed.

"Do you need help?" Roger asked walking over to her side of the bed.

"Yeah. Thanks Baby. Will and Collins are coming over for my prenatal yoga." she smiled looking up at him.

"Prenatal yoga? Where do they get these stupid things? Last month it was pilates, the month before it was cardio." he said looking down at her.

"Yeah and they're also taking classes to become my midwives in case we decide to have these babies at home." she laughed slowly walking to the bathroom.

"We are not having these babies at home." Roger called out as she put the water on to wash her face.

"I told them that. They don't listen. They just think they should be prepared if we decide to at the last minute." she said as he stood in the doorway.

"Remember, don't wear yourself out. You need your rest." he said looking over at her.

"I know Baby. Don't worry, I'm fine." she said starting to change her clothes.

"Well I worry." he smiled watching her.

"I know Roger. You always worry." she said looking up at him as she left the bathroom she looked really tired.

"Ava, why don't you stay in bed. You look tired." he said watching her as she sat on the bed to put her sneakers on.

"Roger, the doctor said I should exercise. He said it'll make delivery easier." she said standing up from the bed before sitting back down again. "Woah." she said sitting back down.

"Ava, are you OK?" Roger asked rushing over to her.

"I'm feeling really lightheaded all of a sudden." she said looking up at him.

"Your cheeks are all red. Baby, you're blood pressure is soaring." he said holding his hand on her wrist taking her pulse.

"I'm not feeling so good Roger." she whispered before falling backwards on the bed passing out.

"Ava. Ava, wake up Baby. Oh my God." he said shaking her face before calling 911. "Yeah, my wife is 7 months pregnant and she just passed out... I think it's her blood pressure, her pulse is racing... send an ambulance... hurry." he called out speaking into the phone frustrated. Just then the door bell rang. "I'll be right back Baby. Hang on Ava." he said running down the stairs. It was Collins and Will.

"Where's our mama? It's time for her prenatal yoga class." Collins asked looking at them with tears in his eyes.

"What's the matter Roger? Where's Ava?" Will asked looking up at him.

"She's upstairs. She's passed out. I just called the ambulance." he told them running back up the stairs as Will and Collins followed him. Ava was still laying on the bed unconscious. "Ava Baby, come on get up. Wake up Baby." Roger whispered caressing her face as he sat next to her on the bed. Just then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Will said running down the stairs to the door. "She's upstairs. Hurry." he said holding the door open for them. They went upstairs to get Ava.

"What happened sir?" one of the paramedics asked as they entered the bedroom.

"She was getting ready for her prenatal yoga class and when she went to get up, she said she was feeling lightheaded and collapsed back down on the bed. I saw her face was really red and her pulse was really fast. What's happening to her?" he asked looking up at them as they moved her off of the bed.

"How far along is she sir?" the paramedic asked looking over at him.

"7 months. We're having twins. Please take care of her. They're my life." he told them as he followed them down the stairs and into the ambulance.

"We'll meet you at the hospital Roger." Collins said as he and Will followed them.

"Can you call my parents please? I need them there." he said looking over at them crying.

"No problem Roger. We're right behind you." he said looking over at him.

"Thanks." he said climbing into the ambulance with Ava. She was still unconscious. She looked so small and helpless. "Is my wife gonna be OK?" he asked sitting next to her in the ambulance.

"Her blood pressure is really high. We need to lower it for hers and your childrens sakes." he said looking over at him.

"How dangerous is it?" he asked holding her hand tight.

"It could be very dangerous. The doctors could tell you more." he said as Ava began to wake up.

"Roger. Roger where am I?" she whispered looking around the ambulance.

"I'm right here Ava. Just stay there, OK. We're in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Your blood pressure spiked and you passed out." he said caressing her face.

"The babies. What about the babies?" she asked looking up at him becoming more upset.

"They're OK for now Mrs. Davis, but we need to get you to the hospital so a doctor can take a better look at you." the paramedic said looking down at her.

"Roger, I'm scared. What if something happens to the babies?" she asked looking up at him.

"Nothing is gonna happen to the babies. They're gonna be fine and so are you. Just rest Baby, OK?" he said kissing her hand as he caressed it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Pr eeclampsia. What's that?" Roger asked looking up at the doctor.

"It's a condition that effects woman late in pregnancy. It's high blood pressure. It occurs for a number of reasons, but in this case, Ava carrying twins is reason enough." he said looking down at them.

"So how do we fix it?" Roger asked looking up at him.

"There is no cure. The only cure for it is for Ava to give birth. Inducing labor right now would be dangerous for the babies. Twins carry a higher risk of low birth weight in full term, so delivering them now would not be wise. What I would suggest to you is just plenty of bed rest and a low sodium diet. You're gonna be fine Ava. Just make sure Roger caters to you from now on. No more prenatal yoga, OK?" he smiled looking down at her.

"Thank you doctor." she said before he left the room. "How did this happen Roger? I thought I was doing everything I could do to make this pregnancy as low stress as possible." she asked looking over at him.

"It's OK Baby. You heard him. All you need is bed rest and a low sodium diet. You're gonna be fine. I'm gonna take such good care of you. Everybody is." he said leaning up to kiss her.

"Is everything OK?" Mrs. Davis asked as she quietly opened the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom. It's just preeclampsia. It's mild, so it can be managed with bed rest and a low sodium diet." Ava said looking over at her.

"If it's bed rest and a low sodium diet you need, that's what you're gonna get. Don't worry. We'll all take care of you my sweetie." she smiled sitting next to her on the bed.

"I should be scared, right?" she asked smiling up at Mr. Davis.

"I would say so sweet heart." he laughed looking down at her.

* * *

"Will, I'm fine. Would you go downstairs please? You're making me nuts." Ava laughed looking up at him as he fluffed the pillows under her feet.

"Roger asked me to take care of you while he went to the store, so I'm taking care of you." he said sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Well, I'm fine Will. You don't need to worry about Roger. He's not gonna kick your ass if you leave me by myself." she laughed looking up at him.

"Maybe I don't want to leave you alone. I miss talking to you like this. I mean, I'm with Collins and you're with Roger ready to give birth to your twins. We haven't had much time to talk about things." he said looking up at her as he began massaging her feet.

"I'm sorry Will. What do you want to talk about?" she asked looking over at him.

"How about names? What names did you and Roger finally agree on for the babies?" he asked looking over at them.

"Well, we decided on Lukas Roger or Thomas Mark for boys and Abigail Susan or Susan Avalon for girls. If it's one of each than we're gonna settle on Lukas and Abigail after Roger's parents and my mother." she smiled looking up at him.

"Thomas Mark?" he asked smiling at her.

"Well Mark and Collins are gonna be the babies godfathers anyway, so we thought it would only be right. I don't want to name my son after my father. Not after everything." she said looking over at him.

"I understand sweetie." he smiled as he continued to massage her feet.

"So tell me about you and Collins? How are things going?" she asked looking up at him smiling.

"Good. I mean, he wants me to officially move in with him." he smiled looking over at her.

"Really? Are you gonna do it?" she asked smiling at him.

"I want to. I mean, I love him." he smiled looking over at him.

"Sweetie, that's great. I'm so happy for you." she smiled looking over at him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty happy too. I mean, I've got my best friends back, I'm in love. What could be better?" he smiled crawling up to sit next to Ava on the bed.

"We're really happy to have you here too." she smiled as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry for what I did all those years ago. I was so confused and stupid..." he said looking down at her.

"Will, it wasn't your fault. We blamed you for so long, but it was our fault. I should have told Roger about you kissing me when he was away at school and he handled it wrong. But it doesn't matter now. What matters is that we're all together now and these babies are gonna be making their grand debut any day now." she smiled looking up at him.

"These are gonna be the most loved babies in the world. With parents like you and Roger, how could these kids lose?" he said looking down at her.

"Yeah, too bad they're gonna lose you, Roger and Collins before they're ready to." she said quietly looking down.

"Ava, you can't think about that right now. Thanks to you and the miracles of modern medicine, me, Roger and Collins are doing great. Hell, we're probably healthier than we were before we were positive. We're gonna be around for a long time for you and these babies." he said leaning down to kiss her head.

"I'm sorry Will. Hormones again. God, I can't wait until these babies are born and I'm myself again." she laughed trying to cover.

"I know sweetie. Everything's gonna be OK. You and the babies are gonna be fine and we're all gonna live happily ever after." he said looking down at her.

"Happily ever after, huh? You really are gay." she laughed looking up at him.

"Very funny." he laughed kissing her head again as they watched tv and waited for Roger to get home.


	22. Chapter 22

"Roger, I knew this was a bad idea." Ava complained as she winced in pain.

"What was a bad idea Baby?" Roger asked holding her hand as she lay in the hospital bed in labor.

"Trying to do this natrually with no drugs. God, this hurts." she said looking over at him.

"Do you want me to get the doctor? I can have you drugged up in no time." he offered smiling at her.

"No, it's OK. I'm fine. Tell me how much you love me again. I need to hear it." she laughed looking up at him as he moved onto the bed to sit next to her.

"I love you so much Ava. You and our babies." he smiled wrapping his arms around her and kissing her head.

"I love you and our babies too Roger." she smiled looking up at him as the contraction subsided.

"Are you OK now Baby?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah I'm fine. Is my mom here yet?" she asked looking up at him.

"Not yet Baby. But she'll be here soon. Do you need anything?" he asked caressing her hair.

"No, I'm OK. I just need to rest now. Who knows when the next contraction is coming." she smiled leaning back against him.

"OK Baby. You rest. Everything's gonna be OK. Our babies are gonna be born and you're gonna be OK." he smiled kissing her head again.

"I know. I need to hear that a lot today too, OK?" she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby. I promise. You're gonna be hearing that so much today, you're gonna get sick of it." he laughed looking down at her.

"I'll risk it." she laughed looking up at him.

"Knock knock. Can I come in?" Ms. Parker asked standing in the doorway.

"Mom. I am so glad you're here." she smiled looking up at the door.

"How are you doing sweetie? Have you needed an epidural yet?" she asked smiling as she entered the room.

"Not yet. I'm good. I just can't wait until my babies are here." she smiled looking upat her.

"I know sweetie. They'll be here soon enough and then you'll be going crazy with two babies crying and needing to be fed and needing to be changed." she laughed looking over at her.

"And you know what? I can't wait." she smiled looking up at her. "Oh boy." she winced holding her belly as she breathed in and out with the pains.

"Look Baby, you're having another contraction." Roger smiled looking at the machine as she looked up at him giving him a dirty look.

"Roger don't make me kill you." she growled looking up at him.

"Sorry Baby." he said holding her in his arms.

"I'm just gonna go out there with everyone else. I love you sweetie." Ms. Parker said looking over at them before escaping the labor room.

"You scared your mom away." Roger laughed kissing her head.

"She'll live." she laughed trying to take her mind off of the pain.

"You're doing so great Baby. I'm so proud of you." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah well, these babies better appreciate everything I'm sacrificing for them." she said taking a cleansing breath.

"They will. I know I do." he smiled kissing her head as she leaned back to relax.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"A boy and a girl? How perfect is that?" Mark asked smiling down at the babies in the nursery.

"That's Lukas Roger and there's my little Abigail Susan." Roger smiled looking down at his children.

"They are so beautiful son." Mr. Davis smiled patting Roger on the back.

"Thanks dad." he smiled looking down at him.

"How's Ava doing? She must be exhausted." Ms. Parker asked looking up at him.

"She is 14 hours of labor." Roger answered looking down at her.

"Well she should rest now. She's gonna be really busy once you get these little angels home." Collins smiled with his arm around Will's shoulder.

"Somehow I doubt that. I have a feeling she's gonna have all the help she could ever need." he smiled looking around at everyone.

"Those babies are gonna be the most loved babies in the world." Will smiled looking down at them.

"They already are man." Roger smiled staring down at his son and daughter.

"Here you are. I was wondering where my husband disappeared to." Ava said quietly as she walked slowly down the hallway holding the rails along the wall.

"Baby, what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting." Roger asked rushing over to her.

"I figured if I wanted to see anybody, I'd have to come out to the nursery." she smiled looking up at him as he wrapped his arms around her waist to help her walk.

"They're beautiful Ava. You did so great girl." Joanne smiled standing by the window.

"Thank you Joanne. Look at my little angels." she smiled staring at them by the window.

"They are angels Baby." Roger smiled leaning down to kiss her head as they stared at the babies.

* * *

"Hello my little Lukas Roger. You are gonna be the most handsome boy in the world. You look just like your daddy." Ava smiled as Lukas slept in her arms and Abigail slept in the bassinet next to her hospital bed.

"Hey Baby, you're up. I went by the nursery to see the kids and the nurses said you came by to get them already. Are you OK?" Roger asked as he entered her hospital room carrying flowers.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted feed them and spend some time alone with them. Aren't they the most beautiful babies you've ever seen?" she smiled looking up at him.

"Yeah Baby, they are. But what do you expect? With a mother like you, how could they not be the most beautiful children ever." he smiled sitting on the bed next to her.

"Roger, you're insane. Lukas is you to a T." she smiled looking up at him.

"But he's got your beautiful blue eyes." he smiled leaning down to kiss his sons head.

"Roger, what do you have there?" she asked looking over at him.

"Flowers for my beautiful wife and the mother of my children." he smiled leaning up to kiss her.

"You are too much Roger." she smiled looking into his amazing green eyes. The same green eyes that had her throughout her teenage years.

"Oh, Will and Collins said they'd be by early and Mark said to tell you to make sure you shower and make yourself filmable." he smiled looking over at her as her eyes widened. "His words, not mine." he laughed quietly, careful not to wake the babies up.

"You guys are insane. I just gave birth yesterday and he wants to film me already." she laughed handing Lukas over to him before getting out of the bed.

"Where are you going Baby?" he asked looking up at her.

"To shower and make myself filmable." she smiled looking down at him as she grabbed her shampoo, conditioner and soap.

"Josh called last night." Roger said quietly as he approached the bathroom with Lukas still in his arms.

"He better not be trying to get me on tour again. I told him I'm through. I just want to be your wife and raise our babies." she said looking up at him.

"No, actually he just called to congratulate us. He said Jimmy called him and told him." he smiled looking down at her.

"Oh. OK. I'm sorry, it's just... I know him. I'm surprised he didn't suggest we hold a press conference announcing the birth of the babies." she said starting to get undressed.

"He did." he told her as she whipped around to look at him. "I told him forget about it. We're out of the business and we're staying out. We like our life the way it is." he smiled looking over at her.

"Roger, if you want to go back, it's OK." she said looking over at him.

"No, Ava I don't want to go back. I want to be here with you and raise our kids. That's all I want now." he smiled looking down at Lukas.

"OK Baby. Oh, we have to figure out what we're gonna call Abigail. Your mom is Abby so we can't call her that." she said stepping into the shower.

"I was thinking we could call her Gail." he smiled looking over at her.

"That's a great idea Baby." she smiled as Abigail began to cry. "Roger, can you get Gail please?" she smiled looking out the curtain.

"Sure Baby." he smiled putting Lukas down and picking up Abigail. "Hey daddy's girl. You're OK. Do you want a bottle? Mommy's taking a shower. Uncle Mark's coming to take a lot of pictures of you, mommy and your brother." he smiled giving her her bottle. "I love you Gail." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.


	23. Chapter 23

"Uncle Mark, if you don't get that camera out of my kids faces I'm gonna clobber you over the head with it." Ava yelled coming in from the kitchen as Mark stood over the babies.

"What? I'm not allowed to film my niece and nephew?" he asked standing over the babies cradles camera in hand.

"If you wake them up, I'm gonna strangle you. It's bad enough your buddy over there insists on standing over them and waking them up every chance he gets." she laughed looking over at Roger who was on the couch talking to Will and Collins.

"What did I do? I'm all the way over here." he whined looking up at her.

"You keep waking the babies." she laughed looking over at him.

"I didn't do anything. I'm sitting over here, minding my own business talking to Collins and Will. I have no idea what you're talking about woman." he smiled looking up at her innocently.

"Woman, huh?" she laughed looking down at him with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry Baby. You know, the guys are here and... I love you." he stammered sheepishly looking up at her as Collins, Will and Mark laughed.

"I love you too you big lug." she laughed leaning down to kiss him as he brought her onto his lap.

"Big lug, huh?" he laughed kissing her neck.

"Guys, do you mind. You have company." Will laughed looking over at them.

"So, when has that ever stopped them?" Mark laughed looking over at him.

"Good point." Will smiled looking up at him as the doorbell rang.

"I am gonna kill whoever that is." Ava whispered as she got off of Roger's lap and ran to the door. "Dad." she said opening the door surprised at who was on the other side.

"Hello Avalon." he smiled looking at her.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" she asked standing by the door.

"I heard you had your babies. Congratulations." he smiled looking down at her.

"Yeah well, you could have said that on the phone. What is it you really want?" she asked looking over at him.

"I wanted to see my daughter and grandchildren." he said looking down at her.

"Baby, who's at the... what do you want?" Roger asked entering the foyer.

"I came to see my daughter and my grandchildren." he said looking up at him.

"You're not welcome here Frank." Roger said escorting him out of the house as Ava followed them outside.

"Dad, we don't want you here." she said folding her arms across her chest.

"I just came to see my daughter and my grandchildren." he said looking over at them.

"Yeah, so you said. But your daughter does not want to see you and there is no way in hell your daughter and her husband are gonna let you near your grandchildren. You couldn't be bothered with me while I was growing up and then when I was the most vulnerable you made me into an alcoholic. I am not gonna have you ruin my kids lives the way you ruined mine." Ava yelled standing up to him as Roger looked on with pride.

"Avalon, I just..." he started when Ava interrupted him.

"AVA. I'm Ava. I'm not Avalon anymore. I gave up Avalon to raise my kids. You see, that's what real parents do." she yelled looking up at him.

"I'm sorry Ava. I just want to make things up to you." he said looking over at her.

"Oh, you want to make things up to me, huh? Don't you think you've done enough? I'm an alcoholic dad. I couldn't have champagne at my own wedding because of that summer. You kept shoving alcohol down my throat so you didn't have to spend any time with me." she yelled looking up at him.

"I know. I'm sorry Ava. I made some huge mistakes in my life. Not giving up touring for you is the biggest one I ever made." he said looking down at her.

"Why now? What happened that made you come to that conclusion?" she asked looking up at him.

"A lot happened. Josie died. Alcohol poisoning. I was with her." he said holding back tears.

"She what? Oh my God." Ava said putting her hands over mouth starting to cry.

"I'm so sorry Baby." Roger said wrapping his arms around her holding her close.

"I can't believe it. How could she die of alcohol poisoning?" she asked looking up at Roger.

"She's been drinking a lot lately. She was really bad." Mr. Donnelly said looking over at them.

"No. You don't get to talk. Get out. I don't want you anywhere near me, my husband or my children. Just go." she said turning to go back into the house.

"Just leave Frank. And don't come back." Roger said looking over at him before following Ava into the house.

"Is everything OK?" Mark asked looking over at them as Ava went up to hers and Roger's room.

"Yeah, can you guys...?" he asked looking up at them.

"Yeah, we got the babies. Go." Will said as Roger ran up the stairs.

"Ava, are you OK?" he asked entering the bedroom. Ava was laying on the bed crying into a pillow.

"I can't believe Josie's gone. That couldn't have been me. If you hadn't found me that day..." she started as he moved her to him sushing her.

"It's OK Ava. I found you. You're OK. Now we're married with 2 beautiful babies. Everything is OK. You stopped." he said caressing her hair comforting her.

"Josie's the one who gave me my first drink and now she's gone. She drank herself to death." she cried looking up at him.

"I know, but Baby, it's not you. You're alive. You stopped drinking before you died." he said rocking her back and forth.

"That man ruins everything he touches. I'm not letting him near our babies Roger. That man is not their grandfather. The only grandfather they have is Luke Davis. Frank Donnelly is dead to them." she said looking up at him.

"No problem Baby." he said kissing her head.


	24. Chapter 24

_2 Years later_

"Roger, catch that kid." Ava yelled laughing as Lukas ran down the hall naked.

"Get back here you little rat. Why aren't you in the bath?" Roger asked scooping the 2 year old up into his arms.

"I wanna play." he told him smiling up at him.

"Yeah well, mommy has to give you a bath first." he said carrying him to the bathroom.

"I don't wanna take a bath. I wanna play." he pouted as Roger put him in the bathtub.

"Lukas, you have to take a bath before Uncle Collins and Uncle Will come over." Ava smiled squatting down next to the tub.

"How come?" he asked looking up at her with Roger's eyes.

"Because mommy and daddy are going out and Uncle Collins and Uncle Will are gonna watch you and Gail." she smiled bathing the child as Roger sat on the toilet seat and watched.

"But I wanna go out with you and daddy." he whined looking up at her as she washed his golden blond hair.

"Maybe next time buddy, OK? Tonight it's just gonna be me and mommy." Roger smiled looking down at him.

"I guess so. Can I watch Lion King with Unka Collins and Unka Will?" he asked looking up at him.

"Yeah buddy, I think that can be arranged." Roger smiled looking down at him.

"Mommy." Gail cried calling out from her room.

"I'll get her Baby. Be a good boy and let mommy finish giving you a bath, OK?" Roger smiled before leaving the bathroom to go to Gail's room. "What's the matter princess?" Roger asked standing in the doorway.

"I can't find my dolly." she cried looking up at him.

"Which one sweetie?" he asked looking down at her.

"Susie May, my favorite one." she told him looking around her room.

"It's OK sweetie. Daddy'll help you find her. Where did you have her last?" he asked kneeling down to her.

"I gave her dinner and then mommy said me and her needed to take a bath and now I can't find her." she said looking up at him.

"OK, we'll find her sweetie. I'm gonna check downstairs, OK? You keep looking in here." he said getting up off of the floor.

"Daddy, we need to find her. She gets scared when I'm not there." she said looking up at him very seriously.

"Listen to me Gail, OK? Daddy will not let anything happen to you or Susie May, OK? I promise." he smiled leaning down to look into her bright blue eyes before kissing her golden blond hair.

"Thank you daddy." she smiled looking up at him as he left her room to rush down the stairs.

"Roger, is everything OK?" Ava asked coming out of the bathroom holding Lukas in her arms.

"Yeah, lost dolly. I'm on it." he laughed looking up at her before going down the stairs. Ava couldn't help but laugh too. 3 years ago, she couldn't imagine Roger looking for a baby doll. He was such a good father. He told the kids stories every night and sung them songs. He loved being a father.

"Knock, knock." Will called out as he entered the Davis house.

"Hey guys. Make yourselves useful, help me find Susie May." Roger said looking under the couch.

"Dolly crisis?" Collins laughed looking down at him.

"Yeah, she's freaking out. We have to find that doll." Roger said getting up to go into the kitchen.

"Roger, shouldn't you be getting ready to go out?" Will asked looking down at him.

"Yeah, but Gail needs her doll." he said looking inside all of the cabinets she could reach.

"We'll find it. You go get ready." Collins smiled looking over at him.

"Thanks guys." he smiled looking over at them before going upstairs. "I didn't find her downstairs, but Uncle Collins and Uncle Will are still looking OK princess?" he asked looking down at her.

"I found her daddy. She was under my towel." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK sweetie." he smiled looking down at her.

"Daddy, how come me and Lukas can't go with you and mommy?" she asked as he sat on her bed.

"Because me and mommy always take you and Lukas with us. Tonight we're going out, just us grown ups. Uncle Collins and Uncle Will are gonna be here with you and Lukas." he smiled looking down at her.

"Who are you going out with?" she asked as he picked her up onto his lap.

"Uncle Mark and his new girlfriend." he smiled playing with her long golden blond hair.

"Is she nice?" she asked looking up at him.

"I don't know princess, I haven't met her yet. But I bet she is since Uncle Mark likes her." he smiled looking down at her.

"Daddy, can she come to my tea party tomorrow?" she asked looking up at him.

"We'll see. Daddy has to go get ready to go out, OK? Uncle Collins and Uncle Will are downstairs looking for your dolly, so you might want to tell them you found her, OK?" he smiled kissing her head before letting her down.

"OK daddy. I love you." she smiled looking up at him.

"I love you too Gail." he smiled leaning down to hug her.

"I know daddy." she smiled before going down the stairs to Will and Collins.

"Crisis over?" Ava asked standing in their bedroom as Roger entered.

"Yeah, she was hidden under her towel in her room." he smiled looking over at her.

"My poor girl. She's just like her daddy." she smiled looking over at him.

"Oh yeah, but I thought you loved her daddy." he smiled wrapping his arms around her.

"I do love her daddy. But you wouldn't be able to find your head if wasn't firmly planted on your neck." she laughed as he leaned down to nuzzle her neck. "Roger, we have to get ready to go out with Mark and his new girlfriend." she squealed as he held her tight.

"I know. I just want to be close to my wife." he smiled kissing up her neck finally reaching her lips.

"I know. It's rare we get to be close like this without one of our 2 year olds yelling or running in here." she laughed looking up at him.

"I love our 2 year olds." he smiled looking down at her.

"Me too Baby." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.

* * *

"Hi Mark. Sorry we're late. You know what it's like trying to get ready with two 2 year olds, and Roger." Ava laughed looking over at him as they entered the restaurant.

"It's OK. We were just looking at the menu." Mark smiled looking up at them. "Ava, Roger this is my girlfriend Tara. Tara, Ava, Roger." he smiled looking really nervous.

"Hi Tara, it's so nice to meet you finally. Mark has told us so much about you." she smiled looking over at her.

"Mark's told me so much about you too. You used to be Avalon, right? I was a really big fan of your music. But Mark tells me you gave it all up for your twins. That's really great." she smiled looking over at them as Roger took Ava's hand.

"Yeah, my family was more important to me than performing." Ava smiled looking up at Roger.

"We have a great family." Roger smiled looking down at her as Mark and Tara smiled over at them.


	25. Chapter 25

_3 Years later_

"Who's ready for dinner?" Ava asked bringing the curry chicken into the dining room where everyone sat waiting.

"Mommy, what smells funny?" Abigail asked looking up.

"It's a new recipe." she smiled sitting down next to Roger.

"It looks great Baby." he smiled looking over at her.

"Thanks you Baby. Everybody dig in." she smiled as everyone started passing the plates around the table. "So Mark, where's Tara tonight?" she asked looking over at him.

"She had to work late, but she asked me to bring her a plate home if that's OK?" he asked looking over at her.

"Of course. I have more in the kitchen." she smiled looking over at him as she began eating.

"Thanks." Mark smiled looking over at her as he began eating.

"Um, guys. We wanted to tell you something." Collins smiled looking over at Will.

"What's the matter guys?" Roger asked drinking his soda.

"Will and I are gonna adopt a baby. We're thinking of going to China or something." Collins smiled looking over at them.

"That's great. When are you going?" Ava asked looking over at them.

"They're trying to find a match for us and then we have to go to China and we have a baby." Will smiled looking over at them.

"We're happy for you guys. Really." Roger smiled looking over at them.

* * *

"Ava, are you OK?" Maureen asked standing on the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Just remind me not to experiment with curry again, OK?" she laughed drying her mouth with a face towel.

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Maureen asked as Ava laid down in her bed.

"What else could it mean? I'm pregnant?" she laughed looking over at her.

"Well..." she smiled sitting on the chair by the window.

"Do you think...?" she asked sitting up straight in the bed.

"Is it possible?" Maureen asked looking over at her.

"Of course it's possible. I mean, we're using... you know because of the HIV, but um... do you really think?" she asked looking up at her.

"It's possible. Do you want me to go to the store?" Maureen asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, maybe you should. People see me buying a pregnancy test and they're liable to tell Roger when he goes to pick up milk." she laughed looking up at her.

"Oh yeah, and I can get away with it?" Maureen laughed looking over at her.

"You can get away with it a lot easier than I can." she laughed looking up at her.

"What time do we have to pick the kids up from school?" Maureen asked looking down at her.

"In 4 hours." she said looking around the bedroom at the pictures of the family that were hanging all around it. "Can you go? Please?" she asked looking up at her.

"Yeah sweetie. I'll be right back." she smiled leaning down to kiss her cheek before leaving the house. Ava began thinking what if it was positive? They just got the twins into kindergarten and now she was faced with maybe another baby. She and Roger hadn't really talked about having another baby, but they didn't rule it out. After 15 minutes, Maureen returned with the pregnancy test. "OK I got it." she smiled handing her the bag.

"Did anyone see you?" she asked looking up at her.

"Yeah, Abby and Luke, Will and Collins, Mark and Tara. Everyone was out and about." she teased looking over at her.

"Very funny. Can I just have my test please?" she asked laughing before going into the bathroom.

"Are you OK in there sweetie?" Maureen asked knocking on the door.

"Um... yeah Maureen. I've been going pee pee in the potty by myself for quite sometime. I'm pretty sure I can do it now." she smiled peeing on the stick.

"Sorry sweetie. Just tell me when you're done." she said as the door opened.

"2 minutes. Why am I so nervous?" she asked sitting on her bed.

"Because you and Roger want this. You just don't know it yet." she smiled looking over at her.

"We just got the twins in school. I wasn't thinking that I was gonna have more diapers to change." she said looking over at her.

"I know sweetie, but do you want another baby?" she asked looking over at her.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, when me and Roger were teenagers, we used to talk about when we had kids. But we always talked about taking our kids on tour with us, you know? We wanted to be rock stars and we were gonna raise our kids on the road. You know, bring tutors for them but we were always gonna spend every moment we could with them. Roger was gonna teach our son or sons how to play the guitar and I was gonna teach our little girl to sing. Now I just want to have happy, healthy kids with two parents who love them enough to give up everything we ever dreamed of to be with them. But the truth is, all we ever dreamed of was them. To have each other and two amazing kids." she smiled looking over at her with tears in her eyes.

"I know." she smiled as the timer went off.

A/N: I know it's so short, but I wanted to leave it a cliff hanger.

Renthead621


	26. Chapter 26

"Roger, I need to talk to you about something." Ava said as Roger entered the bedroom after kissing the kids good night.

"What's the matter Baby?" he asked sitting next to her in the bed.

"Um... I was really sick today, so Maureen went to the store and picked up a test..." she said looking over at him.

"Are you pregnant?" he asked smiling at her.

"No, I'm not. But I wanted to be." she told him as tears filled her eyes.

"Oh Baby, I didn't know you wanted to have another baby." he said taking her into his arms.

"I didn't either, until I thought I was. Roger I'm 35 years old." she cried into his shoulder.

"Ava, it doesn't matter. Do you wanna maybe try to have another baby?" he asked looking down at her.

"I don't know. I mean, I just didn't think I would again, you know?" she asked looking up at him.

"I know, but Ava do you want to try to have another baby?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, I think I do." she smiled looking up at him.

"OK Baby, we'll make an appointment for the doctor and see what we can do, OK?" he asked leaning down to kiss her head.

"OK." she smiled looking up at him as he held her close to him.

"I love you Ava." he smiled caressing her face.

"I love you too Roger." she smiled looking into his green eyes.

* * *

"Ava, I'm sorry but your egg count is extremely low." the doctor said as Roger and Ava sat across the desk from him. 

"What does that mean?" Roger asked as Ava looked down in her lap.

"It means it's gonna be difficult, if not impossible for you to get pregnant again. I'm sorry." he said looking over at Ava who was still looking down.

"Are you OK Baby?" Roger asked looking down at her.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine. Thank you doctor." she said looking up at him.

"Thank you doctor." Roger said as he followed Ava out of the office. She was walking very quickly. "Ava, wait." he called out chasing after her.

"I'm fine Roger. I have to get home and start baking the cup cakes for the twins birthday parties in school." she said not turning around.

"AVA STOP!" he yelled as she stopped in her tracks.

"Roger, I'm fine. I'm 35 years old. There was always a chance that it was too late." she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"No, there wasn't always a chance. You're only 35. 35 is not too old to have another baby." he said looking down at her.

"Roger, I'm not going through the hormone injections and the egg harvesting the invitro. I mean, I know I was willing to do it before we had the twins, but I'm 35 Roger." she said looking up at him.

"Ava, what are you so afraid of?" he asked looking down at her.

"I'm afraid of having a baby at 35 years old. I mean, there's not guarantee that you're gonna be around to see the twins grow up. How fair would it be for us to have another baby this late in our lives?' she asked looking up at him.

"Are you sure you don't want to do this Ava?" he asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, I'm positive. Between Will and Collins and Mark and Tara, we'll have plenty of neices and nephews to spoil." she said looking up at him.

"OK Baby. If this is really what you want." he said looking down at her.

"I am Roger. Now I have to go home and make those cup cakes for school. Do you wanna help me?" she asked smiling up at him.

"I would love to Baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.

* * *

"So you guys aren't gonna do it?" Abby asked looking up at Ava. 

"No, we decided against it. I mean, I'm already 35 and we have the twins and Roger... I just don't think it's such a good idea." she said holding back tears.

"Oh honey, you know Roger's not going anywhere. He's healthier than he's ever been. He's gonna be there for you and the twins for a long time." she smiled looking over at her.

"I know, but that can change without warning." she said looking over at her.

"Oh honey, you can't always worry about that. All you can do is enjoy the time he has with you and the twins now." Abby smiled looking over at her.

"I know, I just don't want to spend less time than I have to with Roger." she said wiping her eyes.

"I understand sweetie." Abby smiled reaching out for Ava's hand.

* * *

"When do you go?" Ava asked looking over at Collins and Will. 

"We leave tomorrow morning." Collins smiled looking over at her.

"That is so great. We are so thrilled. We're gonna have another little baby in the family." Maureen smiled looking over at them.

"We are so happy for you two. You deserve it. You're gonna make incredible parents." Ava smiled looking over at them.

"Thanks Babygirl. Does anyone want to see pictures of our Angel?" Copllins asked reaching into his pocket.

"Me first." Ava asked rushing over to him. "Oh, she is so beautiful. What did you guys decide to name her?" she asked looking up at them.

"Angel Mariana Davis-Collins." he smiled as Ava passed the picture around.

"That's really nice Collins. I'm sure Angel and Mimi would really like that." Roger smiled looking at the little girl in the picture.

"We need to propose a toast." Ava smiled going into the kitchen for the iced tea.

"You really don't have to do that Babygirl." Collins called out as she came rushing in with cups and the iced tea container.

"Yes we do. It's not everyday you and Will become dad's. I wanna propose a toast to Angel Mariana Davis-Collins. Welcome to our family little one." Ava smiled looking up at them as they all raised their cups to toast.

* * *

"We would like to welcome for the first time in the United States Angel Mariana Davis-Collins." Collns smiled as he and Will entered the house with the baby girl in his arms. 

"Well hello Angel. Welcome to our family. You are gonna be so loved my sweetie." Ava smiled looking down at her as Collins placed her into her arms.

"She is so beautiful you guys." Roger smiled looking over at them.

"Mommy, I wanna see." Abigail asked looking up at her.

"Come here Lukas, so you can meet your new cousin." Ava smiled sitting in the chair.

A/N: This is officially the end of Nowhere Fast. I am not gonna continue it until Roger dies. I've done that in more then one story and found it too hard emotionally to write, so I've decided to never do that again.. Ever. I hope you enjoyed this story and I look forward to your reviews on my future stories.


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